


A Tricky Situation

by Onyx_Rabbit



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Awkwardness, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Humor, Jealous Oliver, Light Angst, Romance, Slow Burn, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-02-07 08:50:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 43,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1892775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onyx_Rabbit/pseuds/Onyx_Rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected turn of events force Oliver and Felicity's relationship to develop into something new.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unexpected Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt to write any sort of fan fiction. I don't have a Beta, so any mistakes you may find are my own. Feel free to comment/review, but please be kind. Most of all, thank you for reading.
> 
> For the purpose of this story, bold words are meant to be emphasized, and italic words are a character's thoughts.

It had been a long and boring day so far at Queen Consolidated. Felicity had already attended several meetings that morning with Oliver, and had just gotten back from picking up a sub sandwich from her favorite deli down the street. It was only a few minutes away, and she went there so often, they not only knew her by name, but also what she always ordered. As she strolled down the sidewalk back towards QC, her stomach started growling in anticipation of eating the delicious contents of the brown bag she held at her side. Not only was she was looking forward to enjoying her lunch, but she was already expecting to get a lot done due to a much slower afternoon. There were no more meetings scheduled for the rest of the day, and she was grateful for the opportunity to relax a little without worrying about keeping up the professional EA persona in front of QC’s stuffy business associates. Even though she had been Oliver’s EA for over a year, and was very good at her job, being around board members always made her a little uncomfortable – as though they were all silently judging her.

 As she sat quietly at her desk eating her turkey, bacon, and avocado sub, she decided to get caught up on her personal emails, which had been unintentionally neglected over the past few days. Despite things being relatively calm on the Arrow front, there was still a lot of work to be done in order to keep QC running smoothly. It had become almost second-nature for her to stay a couple of hours late at the office, cutting into what little time she had for herself; she and Oliver would sometimes even eat takeout together while finishing up QC business before heading over to the foundry. Although she enjoyed the work they did as ‘Team Arrow’, the amount of labor they had put in at QC this week alone reminded her that it was her day job that paid the bills. As soon as her inbox opened, she was mortified to see over one hundred unread messages. _Seriously?! You have got to be kidding! It’s only been a few days! This is what I get for putting in so much time here at QC… **and** at the lair!_ She took a deep breath, rolled her neck from side to side, and focused her attention on the screen before her.

 She had been reading, archiving, and deleting emails for what felt like an eternity, but in actuality had only been about ten minutes, when a familiar address that she hadn’t seen in a while caught her eye. She smiled fondly at the screen, clicked on the email, and immediately noticed that it had been sent three days ago. _Oops…and THAT’S why I need to make sure I check my email EVERY day! Ugh._ She quickly scanned the message and then went back to read it again, her excitement building. Once she was finished, she glanced down at the clock on her screen. It was only 1:00 – four more hours until she could technically go home for the day. She let out a small sigh, and looked up from her computer and through the glass wall to see Oliver sitting at his desk, reading over reports. Although whenever he was dressed in his business suit, he certainly looked the part of a natural-born CEO, she knew that at that very moment, he was probably bored out of his mind, and trying desperately to stay awake. _Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to ask him…hopefully he won’t mind a little interruption._

 She got up from her desk and slowly walked over to the glass door, trying to make as little noise with her heels as possible, before softly knocking and stepping into his office. “Hey, Oliver?” she asked with a little hesitation in her voice. His eyes quickly glanced up from the papers that he still held in his hand before responding, “Yes? What is it, Felicity?” Oliver was secretly thankful for her interruption; he would gladly accept anything to take his mind off of the monotonous task before him. As much as he understood that it was important for him to run his family’s business, it was often a very mentally exhausting task. Having Felicity as his EA definitely helped him get through the challenge of being Oliver Queen – CEO. He appreciated the fact that her bright personality and cheerfulness made his job just a little more bearable.

 Felicity hesitated for a moment before taking a breath and diving headfirst into her unprepared request. “Well, I was just thinking. Things have been pretty slow as far as our **nighttime** activities, right? I mean, you guys haven’t caught any major baddies in a while…not that they were there and you **couldn’t** catch them. I mean, there just don’t seem to be any of them **to** catch lately…which is actually a really **good** thing when you think about it…I mean, they must all be too scared of getting arrowed, right?…” Oliver didn’t respond, so she cleared her throat and decided to get to the point. “Anyway…I was just wondering if it would be okay if I take the night off from…you know…my **second** job…since things seem to be slow…” Felicity took a deep breath to refill her now empty lungs, and held it as she waited for his to say something – anything.

 Oliver was smiling affectionately at her when she finally stopped talking. He knew she probably wanted him to interrupt her, but he chose not to because he secretly loved listening to her babble – although he would never admit it to anyone, especially not to her. Sometimes, it took all of his mental capacities just to maintain his composure and not burst out laughing at her unintended innuendos. She most definitely had a talent for saying things that could be taken more than one way – although she usually didn’t realize it until after the words were already out of her mouth. The way she almost always blushed as soon as her brain caught up with what she had just said made her even more adorable. He gave her an amused smile, then nodded and said, “Yes, you can take the night off if you want.”

 Felicity let out a slow sigh of relief and smiled back at him with an appreciative look. “Thank you.” She turned on her heel and started to head back toward the door when she heard Oliver call after her, detecting a hint of concern in his voice. “Felicity, wait...” Her mind picked up on the tone of his voice and was already calculating what might follow those words. _I know that tone…that’s not a good tone._ She turned back around with a puzzled look on her face. “Yes?” It was then that her suspicion was confirmed and a sense of dread hit her. He did look concerned about something. Something had him worried. Her thoughts raced through multiple scenarios of what he might be about to say to her, none of them good. There was a moment of hesitation before he asked in a gentle voice, “Are you…okay?”

 Felicity’s eyebrows shot up in surprise before quickly narrowing in confusion at the realization of his question. Shaking her head, as if to clear it, she answered, “Yeah…I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” A sudden sense of relief washed over her once she realized he wasn’t about to deliver bad news. However, it was hard to hide the fact that she didn’t understand why he was asking her if she was okay, and it must have shown on her face, because Oliver was quick to notice, and then respond. “Well, I just realized that…you’ve never asked to take the night off before.” He stated matter-of-factly, waiting for an explanation. His face was serious and still full of concern, as though he was about to be thrust into the middle of a crisis and he needed to be prepared for anything that might come his way. Felicity wondered if this instinct to always expect the worst was a result of spending five years on an island, struggling to survive. A sense of sadness suddenly weighed on her heart as she considered the possibility that Oliver might not be capable of experiencing the simple joys in life without having a cynical view that there would always be something bad coming with it – just lurking around the corner in the darkness, waiting to strike at any moment.

 She wasn’t aware of how long she had been standing there staring blankly at him, letting her mind wander, but a soft clearing of Oliver’s throat brought her back to the present. _Okay, he’s waiting for an answer. I asked to take the night off, and he wants to know if I’m okay…Why would he ask me that? Oh, right…because I never take time off from work._ “Oliver, I’m okay. Everything’s fine...I just need time off for a **personal** thing…I mean…I just need some personal **time** …" For some reason, she didn't feel like telling him the real reason she wanted time off; it really wasn't any of his business anyway. She continued speaking. "time to unwind and relax…you know, like taking a long hot shower or bubble bath…whatever you prefer.” Her eyes shot open wide after hearing the words she had just spoken. “I don’t mean **YOU** , obviously – you don’t look like the type of guy who takes bubble baths…and I promise I’m not picturing you taking a bubble bath right now…I was just trying to give examples of ways that some people might choose to unwind and relax, you know? Actually, you probably **don’t** know what it means to unwind and--“She could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks, and she was confident that her face was a nice bright shade of pink.

 “Felicity.” He interrupted with a slightly raised voice, saving her from further, almost certain embarrassment. “I understand what you meant. “ His expression and voice softened as his eyes met hers. “I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong...” He left the sentence hanging, allowing her the opportunity to tell him if there was. He wanted to say more, to tell her that he genuinely cared about her, and not just because she worked for him and was his friend. He hoped that she knew how much she meant to him – to the team. He wanted her to feel like she could confide in him. He wondered if she knew that he would do almost anything for her, if it was within his power.

 “Nope – nothing wrong. I just need some downtime…some space…some –You know, I’m just going to go back to my desk now and let you get back to whatever it was you were doing before I came in and…interrupted you.” She spun around before she had time to say anything else, and was out the door and sitting at her computer in seconds, leaving Oliver with an amused look on his face. He watched as she sat there grinning at her computer screen, furiously typing away on her keyboard. He smiled and shook his head, effectively snapping him out of his stupor, and frowned at the report he had been reading before Felicity came into his office _. I really **hate** reading these reports. I almost wish there were some—what did Felicity call them – Baddies?—to ‘arrow’ right now. Hell, I almost wish someone would ‘arrow’ **me** right now…ok, not really. Actually, they won’t even **have** to…because these **reports** are going to be the death of me! I wish I could just ‘arrow’ **them** and be done with it… _ He let out a frustrated huff and glared at the offending report with a look of disgust on his face. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and silently repeated the mantra that he had found himself reciting more frequently these days. _I am Oliver Queen – CEO…I can do this._


	2. An Agonizing Afternoon

The rest of the afternoon passed by excruciatingly slowly for the two of them, albeit for entirely different reasons. Oliver had spent several more hours poring through what seemed like an endless pile of reports. Every once in a while, he would steal a glance at his EA through the glass wall that separated them. There was a slightly different energy about her since their earlier conversation. For some unknown reason, she seemed to be anxious. He noticed her constant fidgeting, drumming her fingers over the keyboard, chewing on her pen, the calf muscle of her crossed leg twitching with every jerk of her foot, as it kept a steady silent rhythm. He was momentarily distracted by the movement, and suddenly found himself staring. He let his eyes slowly wander up from her delicate ankles to her toned calves and then all the way up to the hem of her short skirt before –  _Crap! Why am I staring at Felicity’s legs?!_

He felt a slight rush of blood spread through his face at the realization that he had basically just been unintentionally eyeing his EA. Sure, he knew she was an attractive woman, but he tried not to think of her that way out of respect for her – at least that’s what he kept telling himself. _I need to get back to work._ He shut his eyes so that he wouldn’t be tempted to take another gander at her smooth creamy legs, and inhaled deeply. _Think about something else…breathe…financial reports…breathe…notes from this morning’s meetings…breathe…anything but how soft her skin looked – Dammit!_ He opened his eyes and spotted the clock hanging on his office wall, glaring at it, willing it to speed up the hands that were moving at what felt like a painstakingly slow pace. _5:00 cannot get here fast enough._

Felicity was anxious for the work day to be over, but ever since her conversation with Oliver, time had seemed to slow down to a miserable crawl. She let out an amused chuckle as she thought about how that morning, she had been looking forward to a slow and relaxed afternoon, but now she would have welcomed a busy schedule – anything to make the time go by faster. She opened her email again and clicked on the message she had already read several times and memorized. _Ok._ _Dinner is at 7:00 – that gives me only two hours to get ready...well, less than that. Fifteen minutes to get home, fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant…that leaves…an hour and a half to shower and get dressed. Hmph, that’s going to be pushing it if I don’t want to go out with a wet head tonight._

After looking at the clock for what felt like the millionth time in the last thirty minutes, she started mentally going over every detail of what she needed to do once she left work. _Just another hour and a half until I can leave. I really should have asked to take off earlier-then I would have had time to take one of those relaxing hot showers I was telling Oliver about._ Her cheeks started to flush at the memory of her embarrassing conversation about imagining him in a bubble bath. _Am I ever going to be able to control what I say when I’m around him?_ She rolled her eyes at the thought of how many times she had inadvertently tumbled into an embarrassing rant in front of him. _Surely he’s used to it by now._

By 4:45, Felicity had already straightened the things on her desk and gathered her jacket and purse into her lap. She started shutting down her computer at 4:55, and then sat there staring at the wall clock mounted in her reception area, while her fingers drummed impatiently on her desk. _Come on five o’clock_. As soon as the second hand hit twelve, she sprung out of her seat, ran to Oliver’s door, unceremoniously swung it open and gave him a hurried shout “Bye!” If she hadn’t already turned back around and bolted for the elevator, she would have seen the wide eyes and shocked look on Oliver’s face as he faltered to respond before she had left his presence. “Bye, Felicity...See you – tomorrow” His voice trailed off with the last word as the elevator door shut, leaving him sitting there stunned, staring at the spot she had occupied no more than a few seconds earlier. He slowly turned his head to gaze out the window as he pondered possible explanations for her strange behavior. _Hmph. I wonder what she has planned for her ‘personal time’…whatever it is…she sure was in a hurry to get out of here. I don’t know if I’ve **ever** seen her move that fast before._

Felicity lurched from the elevator as soon as the doors were open, and started heading for the parking garage. Her steps quickened once she caught sight of her mini, and she unlocked the door right before reaching the car. Normally, her commute from work would take a solid fifteen minutes, but with a little disregard for the speed limit, and running a couple of yellow lights, she easily made it home in ten. She hurried to unlock the door to her apartment, throwing her purse on the kitchen counter and heading towards her bedroom, shedding clothes as she went. Once in the bathroom, she turned on the water in the shower, waited for it to get warm, and then stepped inside. She truly had meant what she said earlier about taking a nice long hot shower; it was one of the ways Felicity liked to relax, but she didn’t have time for a long shower today – and especially not a bubble bath.

She quickly lathered and worked the coconut and lime scented shampoo into her hair and as she massaged her scalp, her mind started to wander back to her conversation with Oliver and the way he reacted to her request for personal leave. _Why did he automatically think something was wrong just because I asked to take off tonight? I know I haven’t ever taken time off before, but just because I do, that doesn’t mean there is something wrong. That’s so typical of Oliver though; he’s always worrying about something. Ugh! Why am I thinking about Oliver right now? I don’t have time to get distracted. I have to hurry up and get ready!_


	3. A Protector or Pervert? (Oliver Queen - Peeping Tom)

Oliver left QC shortly after 5:00 and rode his motorcycle over to the foundry; the rest of the reports would just have to wait until tomorrow. He planned on patrolling the Glades tonight, and seeing as how Felicity was right about things being quiet as far as crime in the city, he told Digg to take the night off to spend some quality time with Lyla. After suiting up and grabbing his bow, he stepped out into the warm, breezy summer night, and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh air. He was looking forward to riding around the Glades, and hoped that it would help clear his head. Oliver spent the next half hour patrolling, but nothing was happening, which suited him fine since his mind was on something – someone – else anyway. _Felicity_. He couldn’t stop trying to analyze the change in her behavior after their conversation. _She was anxious all afternoon, and then, as soon as it was 5:00, she practically flew out of the office_... _Clearly, she has plans of some sort, but what? Why keep it a secret? If it’s not a big deal, why didn’t she just tell me what she was doing?_ All of these unanswered questions kept nagging at him until he couldn’t stand it any longer; he finally gave in to his curiosity, and headed for Felicity’s apartment. One way or another, he was determined to get some answers.

When he got there, everything was quiet on her street. He looked around and found a place to park his motorcycle where it would be out of the way and unseen. A quick glance up at her window revealed the sheer, bright orange curtains lightly blowing with the outside breeze. He shook his head and let out a long sigh. _How many times have I told her to keep that window shut?_ He could see that her bedroom light was on, so obviously she was at home. With cat-like agility, Oliver quietly stalked across the street and climbed up the fire escape to Felicity’s window. He could just make out her silhouette through the sheer curtains. A familiar scent then caught his attention, and he closed his eyes while breathing in, relishing the sweet fragrance, letting it overwhelm his senses. Without thinking, a smile started to form on his lips as his body relaxed and his mind placed the scent. _Felicity_. She always smelled like coconut mixed with a hint of lime. He chuckled softly to himself at the realization that just her smell alone could calm him and make him feel at ease. After a few more moments, he finally opened his eyes and slowly peered through a small gap between the curtains. What he saw caused him to take a sharp breath, where it stuck in his lungs, his mouth frozen slightly open at the sight before him.

Felicity had her back to the bedroom window, while she rummaged through her closet looking for the dress she planned to wear that night. Although she was standing there wearing nothing but a matching black bra and lace panties, she was still hot from her shower, making her thankful for the light breeze that was blowing into her room from the open window. The slightly cooler temperature of the night air was refreshing, and she felt a wave of chills run down her body almost immediately each time it touched her warm skin. Her hair was a mess of slightly damp curls that would occasionally send a tiny drop of water running down her back. She had spent too much time perfecting her make-up, and would now have to forgo drying and styling her hair properly. She grabbed the shower towel that was hanging on the bathroom doorknob and bent over, slinging her hair forward. After giving it a brisk rub with the towel, she stood back up and ran her fingers through the long blond locks a few times to get out any lingering tangles. Not wanting to waste any more time, she decided to let it air dry and go with the soft, natural curls look. It had been a long time since she had worn her hair that way; it reminded her of her days at MIT, back when she didn’t have extra time to spend on doing make-up and hair because she was always too busy studying.

She quickly reached into the closet and pulled out one of her favorite cotton dresses.  It was knee-length, navy blue with small white polka dots, and had a skinny white belt that accentuated her tiny waist. The classic sleeveless V-neck style complemented her figure, and this dress in particular always made her feel especially feminine. She grabbed a thin white three quarter length sleeved sweater and threw it on the bed before walking towards her full-length mirror with the dress in hand. She held it up to her body and gazed at her reflection for a minute before gracefully stepping into it, pulling it up, and slipping her arms through. As soon as she had finished zipping up the back and smoothing imaginary wrinkles from the front, a mischievous smile appeared on her face and she started to slowly twist her hips from side to side, watching how the skirt of the dress spun back and forth. She felt like a princess.

A glance at the clock on her bedside table shocked her distracted mind back into gear. _Okay, Felicity…enough admiring yourself. Time to finish getting ready or you are seriously going to be late!_ She opened a small wooden jewelry box that was sitting on top of her dresser, and grabbed an antique pearl necklace and affectionately looked down at it as her fingers gently caressed the beads. It was given to her from her grandmother right before she died, and was the only physical thing she had that once belonged to her loving Oma Ruth. She sighed, and carefully fastened the delicate clasp of the necklace, shuddering slightly at the cool touch of the beads on her bare collarbone.  A moment later, she was reaching down to slip into her shoes; they were basic navy pumps, but gave her an additional four inches in height. After straightening back up again and wobbling for a moment, she wondered if it was a good decision to wear such high heels. _Maybe we won’t be doing too much walking_ … She grabbed her sweater from the bed, picked up her purse, and headed out of the bedroom.

Oliver’s heart was beating uncontrollably in his chest as he took in Felicity’s essentially naked body. His mind immediately flashed back to earlier that day when he had caught himself staring at her legs, only this time there was a lot more skin showing than just her legs. He let his eyes wander up her body slowly, taking in every inch of her creamy complexion, first with her long slender legs, followed by her curvy hips and narrow waist, and ending with her delicate shoulders – a part of her body that he was all too familiar with touching, but had rarely seen bare. He admired her form as a whole, the way she appeared to be perfectly toned, but at the same time, incredibly soft to the touch. At the thought of touching her bare skin, he closed his mouth and tried to swallow, only to discover that it had suddenly gone dry. A voice inside his head told him that he shouldn’t be sitting on a fire escape, spying on his friend, however, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her while she stood in front of the closet, dried her blonde curls, and put on her dress. The way she stood there in front of her mirror and made the skirt flare held him completely captivated; he felt like he was being hypnotized as the material spun around her body, clinging to her form before unwinding, only to wrap around her again and again.

He allowed himself to fully admire how beautiful she looked in the dress, before a pang of guilt struck him at the realization that he had just secretly invaded her privacy. He immediately looked down in shame, and tried to remember the reason why he was there, before his mind started racing again with all of the unanswered questions. As if trying to solve a puzzling mystery, he recounted every detail of their day together at QC. _She said she needed some personal time…some space. Well, actually… first she said personal **thing** , and then corrected herself…unless she was trying to cover up something. She is definitely dressed up to go out…She was anxious all afternoon, and couldn’t get out of the office fast enough..._ The thought hit him as swiftly as one of his arrows, and he suddenly had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that was unfamiliar and equally unpleasant. _Maybe she has a **date** …that would explain the anxiety and being all dressed up and looking…absolutely **stunning**. Wait a minute, could Felicity actually be dating someone without us knowing? _ His felt his face and neck start to get warm at the thought of her secretly going out with another man. _Surely, she would have told us if she was seeing someone…well, she would have at least told **Digg** …and I’m not about to ask **him** …_Oliver smirked to himself as he considered the easiest way of obtaining the information he wanted.


	4. An Operation in Covert Recon

When he looked through the curtains again, she was gone and her bedroom light was off. He carefully climbed back down the fire escape and silently made his way back to where he had hidden his motorcycle in between two buildings across the street from her apartment. Waiting patiently, he kept his eyes trained on her door, and several minutes later, she emerged from the building. His eyes followed her as she very slowly and methodically descended the stone steps in front of her building, looking somewhat awkward and unsteady as she held onto the railing for support. _What the hell is wrong with her? Why is she walking like that?_ His eyes dropped down to her shoes. _Oh…_ He chuckled into his helmet and grinned. _You should have gone with the flats, Felicity_. Although the stairs had presented quite a challenge, once on level ground, she seemed to regain her balance, and began to sashay smoothly down the sidewalk toward her car, the navy skirt swaying back and forth with each step.

Oliver tried to justify his decision to follow her by telling himself that he could ensure her safety; after all, she really shouldn’t be out at night by herself. He steadied his grip on the handlebars and narrowed his eyes, which were already locked onto the target ahead of him, a determined look shielded only by his helmet. _Okay, Miss Smoak. Let’s just find out where you’re going tonight._ He waited for her to start the mini, drive down to the end of her street, and go right at the first stop sign before turning the key to his motorcycle. Even though he knew she wasn’t accustomed to checking for a tail, he didn’t want to take any chances of being seen. He wasn’t good at coming up with cover stories, and she had always had an uncanny knack for seeing right through them. For the next fifteen minutes, he maintained a respectable distance behind her, making sure that there were several cars between them at all times. When he saw her car signaling to pull into the parking lot of Valentino’s Italian restaurant, he turned a block early and circled back around to the other side of the street. Since most of the buildings across from the restaurant were family owned businesses and already closed for the evening, he was able to remain hidden, cloaked in the shadows.

He watched as she got out of her car, saw how she glanced down at her phone and then looked around the parking lot, brows furrowed, scanning the cars that were parked there. Then he heard a car door open, and his attention shifted to a tall dark-haired man who stepped out, turned around and shut the door behind him in one fluid motion. He was considerably well-dressed, wearing a professional charcoal gray business suit, and from what Oliver could tell, fairly attractive, and probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s. He glanced back at Felicity just in time to see her face suddenly light up with a smile of recognition as she started walking toward the man, her pace noticeably quickened. Oliver felt a painful jolt in his stomach when he saw the man wrap his arms around Felicity in a huge embrace and then lift her up off her feet, causing her to shriek with surprise, before spinning her around while she laughed gleefully. _I **knew** it! She’s **IS** dating someone and is purposefully keeping it a secret. _ A rush of anger rapidly spread throughout Oliver’s body, and he couldn’t decide what upset him more, the fact that Felicity was dating someone, or that she was hiding it from him.

Oliver glared at the couple as they walked into the restaurant, arm in arm, smiling at each other and looking completely blissful together. Once they were inside, he realized that he had been clenching his fists, and apparently his jaw, if the sudden pain that shot through him was any indication. He was just about to leave, when he heard the faint jingle of a bell. Looking back up, he saw a waitress leading Felicity and the man into the restaurant’s outdoor dining area that was filled with quaint little tables that were covered by large elegant black umbrellas. They were seated at a comfortable table for two facing Oliver, and after the man said something to the waitress, she went back inside. A few minutes later, she returned with a bottle of wine that she promptly uncorked and began to pour into their glasses, causing Felicity’s eyes to light up at his selection. _Of course…he ordered a bottle of **red**. Apparently he knows Felicity well enough to get what she likes. What am I **saying**? He **obviously** knows her well, judging by the way he practically **manhandled** her in the parking lot!  _ Oliver couldn’t help but wonder what other intimate things this man knew about his IT girl, and as he let his mind consider the possibilities, a low growl erupted from somewhere deep inside his chest – like an overprotective wild animal. He saw the waitress set the bottle down on their table and then write down what the two of them wanted before taking their menus and saying something that caused the couple to burst out with laughter. Felicity tried to contain her outburst by placing a hand over her mouth, but only managed to reduce it to a small fit of soft giggles which lasted even after their waitress had gone back into the restaurant, leaving them alone again. Oliver huffed in annoyance. _What’s so funny?_

As he watched the two of them eating and engaging in what seemed like a very intimate and pleasant conversation, Oliver couldn’t help but notice how the man kept gazing up and smiling at Felicity; he understood all too well what that look meant. Every once and a while, he would hear her laughter drift across the street, over the traffic noise, taunting his ears. Normally, the sound of Felicity laughing was enough to lift him out of even the foulest of moods, but tonight, hearing it and knowing that it was caused by another man only added to the sour feeling he was already experiencing. Suddenly, he felt his face and neck getting hot again as anger started building up making his insides writhe. He didn’t know who this guy was, but he had to fight the urge to walk over there and punch him in his stupid smiling face. _I’d like to see you laugh at that, pretty boy._ He shut his eyes tightly and took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air. _Just breathe…and relax...and breathe…_ For the second time today, his attempt to meditate wasn’t working, and he was pretty sure he knew why. He could hear Felicity laughing again, and it was enough to push him over the edge. He started his motorcycle, revving the engine until it loudly roared to life, and sped off in the other direction back toward the foundry – he had a couple of training dummies to annihilate.


	5. A Walk Down Memory Lane

Felicity was having a wonderful time catching up with one of her long-time friends from MIT. She didn’t have that many friends throughout college since she was somewhat of a computer geek, but she had met Charles Bennett (Charlie, to his friends) during her freshman year in one of her programming classes and they had just clicked. He had come in several minutes late on the first day, and slipped into the empty seat next to her on the back row, before throwing her a bright smile and introducing himself. After that, everything fell into place, and they were friends; he was easy to talk to, and they had a lot of common interests, so it didn’t take long for them to become very close.

When she had read his email earlier that day, the thought of getting to see one of her best friends from college had made her both excited and nervous. It was one thing to be friends when they were both in school because they shared a lot of classes and would often work on homework assignments and projects together. Now things were different; they both lived in different cities, (different states even) had jobs and full, busy lives that didn’t include each other anymore. She wondered if they would still have anything in common after not really keeping in touch over the past several years. It turned out that her fears were unwarranted, because as soon as she saw him in the parking lot and he swept her up off her feet for a big bear hug – just like he used to do at MIT, it was as if nothing had changed and no time had passed between the two of them. After her moment of initial nervousness was over, she felt them both ease right back into the comfort of the strong friendship they had developed so many years ago.

When their waitress commented about them looking like such a sweet couple, they couldn’t help but laugh before both replying simultaneously with the well-practiced ‘we’re just good friends’ explanation. Apparently, even though they hadn’t seen each other in years, they still got mistaken for being romantically involved. It was something they were both used to though; because they spent so much time together in college, people automatically made assumptions about their relationship being more than that of friends. Neither of them minded the rumors that swirled around campus about the two of them. In fact, it had come in handy on more than one occasion when one or both of them needed to escape unwanted attention from someone of the opposite sex. If a clingy girl from a party managed to get Charlie’s phone number and call him while they were studying, he would simply hand the phone over to Felicity and let her answer for him. When Felicity found out she had a stalker, Charlie insisted on walking her to class. It was unfortunate for the creep that he happened to cross paths with them one night and instigate a brawl that resulted in Mr. Stalker being hospitalized; understandably, he never bothered Felicity again.

As they sat there enjoying their food, the wine flowed freely, and the conversation was effortless. They briefly filled each other in about what they had done since graduating; Felicity was careful not to mention anything related to the Arrow, before steering the conversation back to shared memories of their carefree days at MIT. She was in the middle of regaling him with yet another amusing college story about one of their professors when her voice was drowned out by what sounded like a very loud motorcycle nearby. She looked at their close proximity to the street and laughed. “I guess that’s what we get for choosing to eat outside…although I can’t say that I really mind too much. I mean, it’s such a nice night. The weather is just…perfect.” She inhaled deeply and let out a sigh of content as a smile graced her face. Charlie couldn’t agree more. “It really is nice out tonight. And the food was absolutely delicious! Thank you for recommending this place. You know how much I love Italian – I guess some things never change.” He winked and then smiled at her, a look of appreciation and tender nostalgia written across his face. When they had been in school together, it was their ritual to have dinner at their favorite local Italian restaurant every Friday night. It provided an outlet for them to unwind after a busy week of class, and gave them an opportunity to enjoy a couple of hours filled with carefree conversation before resuming the task of studying.

“Hmm…technically, it’s Thursday, but you’re more than welcome – I’m just glad I checked my email today, or I wouldn’t have even known you were in town!” She gave him an apologetic smile before adding, “…and I’m sorry for not responding sooner…things have been pretty busy at work, and I just got a little behind on checking my personal email…” He held up his hand to stop her from continuing, “Apology not necessary. Really, I understand how hectic work can be, so don’t feel bad. I’m just glad we were able to figure something out at the last minute.” The sincerity on his face told her how much it truly meant to him that she had made time to have dinner with him. Although they had promised to stay in touch after graduating, life had happened, and they had both gotten lost in the everyday little things, and unintentionally stopped communicating with each other. He had clearly missed his friend, and she was happy that they had been able to reconnect over a meal of delicious Italian food and red wine.

Felicity’s eyes lit up as a thought came to her. “Hey! Let me give you my phone number so you can just…text me next time you are in town, okay?” He slipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone, reaching across the table to hand it to her. She took the device and immediately started tapping the screen with her finger, focusing her attention on the screen while continuing, “I may not always check my email regularly, but I will most definitely get back to you through texting…well, at least I’m a lot more likely to get back to you sooner.” She finished entering her contact information and handed the phone back to him before raising an eyebrow and adding with a devilish smirk,”Besides…I wouldn’t want to pass up another opportunity to hang out with MIT’s notorious ‘Charming Charlie’, now would I?”

A hearty laugh escaped from somewhere deep inside of him, which was then followed by a slight groan. “Nobody has called me that in **years** …I almost forgot about that silly nickname…I was hoping everyone else had, anyway…” Despite being a computer science major, his handsome features combined with his impressive athletic build, carried over from years of playing sports all throughout high school, had made him a desirable target among many of the popular sorority girls on campus. Although he never dated any one girl long enough to develop into a serious relationship, his manners and the way in which he always treated his dates with respect and courtesy, had quickly led to his reputation of being a complete gentleman. That being known, it should have come as no surprise that he insisted Felicity let him pay for their dinner. She reluctantly agreed, but told him that the next time would be her treat.

As they stood from the table, she grimaced before saying, “It’s not so bad. ‘Charming Charlie’ suits you…and trust me – it could have been worse. At least nobody ever called you ‘Little Smokie’…” She tilted her head and added sarcastically, “being compared to a cocktail weenie was **loads** of fun – especially at parties where there was actually a crockpot of the tiny sausages on the food table.” They both started laughing, and slowly walked back to the parking lot, again with arms linked. Charlie stood waiting as she clumsily fished her keys out of her purse and unlocked the mini. She turned back to him and gave him a genuine smile. “I had a great time tonight, Charlie. I’m really glad we got to catch up with each other. Let’s not wait so long before doing it again…“ He snickered, and she punched his arm before clarifying, “doing **dinner** again, okay? Glad to see you are still the immature one.” He grinned and pulled her into a gentle hug before releasing her. “Don’t worry. I promise to do a better job of keeping in touch. I’ve missed getting to hang out with my favorite girl too much.” He watched her get into her car before walking across the parking lot to his own. Felicity started her engine and couldn’t help but smile as her thoughts replayed everything that had happened that night. A warm feeling coursed through her body as she realized that despite their distance over the years, not too much had changed. They were still friends – good friends.


	6. A Rough Day at the Office

“Good morning, Oliver.” Felicity jumped up from her chair and beamed brightly at her boss the moment he stepped out of the elevator. He wore a scowl on his face and simply nodded curtly at her before briskly walking past her and into his office, letting the door swing shut behind him. She stood there with a confused look on her face, stunned by his abrupt greeting, or lack thereof, but simply shook it off and sat back down with a plop. _Hmph. Looks like **somebody** has a bad case of the grouchies this morning…then again, it is Oliver…’King Grumpapotamus’! Or I guess technically, it would be ‘ **Queen** Grumpapotamus’…no that doesn’t sound right…_ She focused her attention back to her computer screen and started typing away.

Oliver sat at his desk still fuming over the events of the previous night, which kept cycling through his head on an endless loop. After leaving the restaurant, he had driven back to the foundry and gone through several training dummies, but their destruction did not do much to calm his anger, which in turn caused him to become even more frustrated. Despite the mountain of paperwork he needed to review, he couldn’t stop thinking about the way Felicity’s face lit up when she saw that man, how he picked her up and spun her around in the parking lot, and hearing her laugh like she didn’t have a care in the world. He looked through the glass at his EA, noticing the far off look in her eyes and the pleasant smile that graced her perfectly bright pink lips. He scowled again. **_She’s_** _certainly in a good mood today._ As if she had heard his thoughts, she jerked her head toward his office and caught him staring at her, only to see him quickly look down at his desk, still scowling.

Felicity’s eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed, a slight frown forming on her face as she tried to figure out why he might be in such a bad mood. Something was definitely bothering Oliver, and whatever it was, she knew he wouldn’t just come out and tell her – she would have to ask. Oliver was many things, but nobody could ever accuse him of being an ‘over-sharer’. That definitely came more naturally to her, although usually at the most inopportune times, and often to her embarrassment. With a deep inhale and heavy sigh, she stood up and walked over to his door, determination steeling her stride.  She quietly knocked on the glass, and waited for him to lift his head and raise his eyebrows in question before entering. Once inside his office, she slowly walked towards him, halting right in front of his desk before softly asking, “Oliver, what’s wrong? Did – did something happen last night while I was gone?”

He could feel the anger flooding through him again at her mention of last night, but his face remained emotionless as he answered, a little too sharply, “Why? Did something happen with you last night, Felicity?” His harsh tone hit her like a punch in the gut, and she instinctively took a small step back from his desk. She certainly wasn’t expecting that reaction, and was now starting to regret even asking him what was wrong, because clearly, whatever it was…it was bad – really bad. She swallowed and allowed herself to breathe before calmly answering in a steady voice. “No…nothing – happened – with me…I was just asking…because you seem a little…upset today…tense…that’s all…”

He maintained eye contact with her, his mouth in a thin straight line, but remained silent. Felicity continued, “Look, Oliver…obviously **something** is bothering you…you just seem really… **Grrr** …I mean, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I was talking to The **Arrow** right now” – she whispered the last part and let out a nervous laugh. Oliver’s face was still fixed with a stoic expression, but his eyes were boring into hers with a fierceness that was starting to make her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and he could see the hurt expression on her face before she quietly said, “Oliver…I hope you know that you can talk to me about whatever is bothering you…or about anything…if you want to – or need to…I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you.” She spun on her heel and was out of his office, leaving him to process her words as they echoed in his head. _I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you._ He looked down at the ground next to his foot and tried to suppress the mounting sense of regret at the way he had spoken to her, picturing the pain on her face after he had snapped at her. _Oliver –sometimes you’re a real jerk._

The morning hours drudged by slowly, and Felicity tried not to think about her earlier clash with Oliver; she was determined to push those thoughts away and focus on something more positive. Instead, she decided to think about what a great time she had the night before, and how much fun it had been to eat Italian food with Charlie and relive stories from their past together. A smile formed on her lips, but was gone a moment later as her mind betrayed her by shooting back to Oliver. She didn’t know why he was so upset, and couldn’t understand why he had taken it out on her when she was only trying to be supportive. There was no denying that it had hurt when he lashed out at her, and she involuntarily winced as she remembered the way he had stared at her, clearly expressing anger without uttering a single word. _After all this time, he still won’t let me in…won’t confide in me._

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn’t hear the elevator ding, didn’t hear the footsteps that were approaching, didn’t notice the masculine form that was now casting a tall shadow on her desk, until her trance was broken by the sound of a familiar voice. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important…” Charlie gave a dashing smile and let out a little chuckle as she let out a small shriek and gasped, eyes widened, her hand clutching her chest in a truly dramatic style. “Oh my gosh! Charlie! You scared me! I was just busy thinking and I guess I didn’t hear you.” She took a moment to normalize her breathing and slow her heat rate before standing up and taking a few steps toward him.  His response made it clear that her internal dialog had not gone unnoticed, and he seemed a little concerned and somewhat curious. “Yeah, I could see you were a little lost in your thoughts there for a while...what’s going on, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh! It was nothing…I mean – not **nothing** …I was most definitely thinking about **something**. I just wasn’t thinking about anything **important**. You know, just normal things…like normal everyday things that a person might think about at any given moment…and I don’t know why I’m babbling.” She shook her head and laughed to relieve some of the tension and in a more relaxed voice, continued. “You just caught me off guard and – I just didn’t expect to see you standing here – and…Wait a minute! You’re HERE! Why are you **here**? I thought you were flying back today.” She closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them again, a confused look etched across her face. “I’m sorry, I just – how did you know where I work?”

His eyes sparkled and he smiled adoringly at her. “Don’t you remember? You put your contact information in my phone last night?” She nodded slowly, but when he noticed she was still looking at him without understanding, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, found her name and showed her the screen, explaining further. “Well, you actually gave me **all** of your contact information…” A light went on inside her head, and she let out a relieved sigh and shook her head, remembering that she had consumed quite a lot of wine the night before. Charlie placed his hand on the outside of her arm, bringing her attention back to his smiling face. “You also said not to wait too long before doing it again…” His eyes crinkled as he flashed his most mischievous grin, his perfectly white teeth absolutely gleaming. “Anyway, my flight isn’t for a few more hours, so I just thought I would forgo the text and surprise you by showing up to take you out to lunch. That is if you – don’t already have…plans…” The last part of his sentence slowed, and then trailed off as his focus quickly shifted to the man who was approaching the two of them with fast strides, his face armed with a look that most people would consider to be intimidating.

Closing the distance between them in only a few seconds, Oliver forcefully stuck his hand out to Charlie and with a little edge in his tone, addressed the man with confidence. “Hi. I’m Oliver Queen.” A beat passed before the man matched his voice with an equal sense of confidence and authority. “Charles Bennett.” He met Oliver’s intense gaze and offered his hand in response without the slightest hesitation, returning his firm grip with an impressively strong one of his own. Felicity had detected the underlying tone in each man’s voice, and was now observing the battle of testosterone that was unfolding right in front of her eyes.  To anyone else, the handshake might have seemed civil, but Felicity knew both of these men, and could recognize when they were trying to assert their dominance in a social setting. She could sense the aggressive behavior that they were both exhibiting toward each other. Not wanting things to escalate into an old-school frat boy fist fight, she cleared her throat, which effectively ended the handshake as both men dropped their arms back to their sides and looked at her with matching questioning expressions.

An uncomfortable silence passed by as Felicity’s eyes darted back and forth between the two men before Oliver turned to Charlie and, with an obviously forced politeness to his voice, prodded the man through almost gritted teeth. “And to what do we owe the pleasure, Mr. Bennett?” Charlie took note of his tone, and sized him up with one brief look before slightly cocking his head to the side and answering, “Not that it’s really any of your business…Mr. Queen. I was just about to take Felicity to lunch.” He turned back to her with an expectant look, waiting for an answer to the offer he had proposed before they were interrupted. Oliver kept his eyes trained on Charlie, and before Felicity had a chance to respond, he quickly replied, “I’m afraid Ms. Smoak is busy at the moment. Perhaps, some other time…” Felicity whipped her head to stare at Oliver in surprise, and noticed that he was also now facing her with an expression she didn’t understand.

She was quite frankly shocked at his behavior, starting with his unexplained broodiness that morning, him lashing out at her, and now his rudeness toward her friend. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, until she took a quick breath and stared straight back at him with a curt retort. “Actually, Mr. Queen…I believe my schedule is **open** for lunch today.” Oliver looked genuinely surprised at her blatant contradiction and furrowed his eyebrows trying desperately to come up with a legitimate sounding counterargument, but as the words were leaving his mouth, he knew it was a weak attempt at best. “We have a meeting.” Without missing a beat, she held a defiant look on her face and responded firmly “I’m sure it can be rescheduled.” She noticed the change in Oliver’s face immediately, and was startled to see that his eyes were filled with sadness and no longer burning with the anger she had seen that morning. There was something else there, something she wasn’t used to seeing, and it hit her with a pang of guilt. He looked hurt, not the look of physical pain she was familiar with, but more of an emotional pain, like he had just been rejected.

Charlie watched the exchange and silently noted what was being said through their conversation, but more importantly, what was being said through their body language. After observing the tense silence between Oliver and Felicity for a few more moments, he finally spoke, breaking their gaze. “Felicity? Are you ready to go?” She looked away from Oliver, and tried to force a smile onto her face before answering him. “Um…yeah…uh, just give me…a few minutes to shut down my computer, and then I’ll be ready to go.” She gathered her jacket and purse after clicking her mouse a few times, and walked past Oliver, not sparing him another glance before taking Charlie’s extended arm, and walking to the elevator. Although she couldn’t bring herself to glance back at Oliver, the look he had given her was etched into her mind, leaving her with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.


	7. A Somewhat Awkward Lunch

As soon as the elevator doors closed in front of them, Charlie turned to her and asked, “So…do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Felicity tried to pretend that she didn’t know what he was referring to, and simply replied, “What was all what about?” Charlie decided to play along. “Okay. Maybe I’m wrong, but I got the distinct impression that your boss really didn’t want you to go to lunch with me.” Felicity looked down at her tablet before meeting his eyes again with a weak smile. “It’s not that…Oliver just gets our schedules confused sometimes, that’s all.” Wanting to change the subject, Felicity enthusiastically asked, “Well, ‘Mr. Bennett’ – where would you like to go for lunch? Don’t forget, it’s my treat this time!” The elevator door opened, and they started heading towards the parking garage, her heels echoing throughout the concrete structure.

After throwing out a few suggestions, they finally decided to eat at Big Belly Burger. Felicity led Charlie to one of the booths toward the back of the restaurant, which was situated close to the kitchen. A few moments after they were seated, a waitress approached the table with a smile of recognition as she neared Felicity. “Hi Felicity! Let me guess – you want your regular.” Felicity grinned and held up her hands in mock surrender. “Hey, Amanda – you got me. Yes, I’ll have my regular, please.” Amanda then turned her attention to Charlie before questioning Felicity. “And what about your handsome friend? What can I get for you, sweetie?” She gave him a flirtatious smile and winked. Charlie smiled politely and gave Amanda his order. He waited for her to walk out of earshot before raising and eyebrow at Felicity. “Your regular, huh? How often do you eat here?” Felicity laughed, “Actually, you’d be surprised. The three of us – “Charlie stopped her midsentence, curiosity written across his face, “the three of you?” Felicity started fidgeting with her paper napkin and answered nervously, “Yeah. Me, Digg, and Oliver...we eat here a lot.”

Charlie could clearly see that Felicity was uncomfortable talking about Oliver, so he steered the conversation into another direction, until their food arrived. Felicity had gotten her usual – a double cheeseburger with mustard, ketchup, and onions – no pickle, home-style fries, and a strawberry milkshake. Charlie had ordered the Big Belly “Belly Buster” with onion rings and a chocolate fudge milkshake. Between bites of burgers, fries, and onion rings, they carried on with the same ease of conversation that they had the night before. He told her more about the different computer programs he was working on developing, and she gave him a more detailed look into ‘A Day in the Life of Felicity Smoak – Oliver Queen’s EA’. After finishing his burger, Charlie remarked on how good it was and said he was impressed with her decision about where to eat lunch. She thanked him and threw on her best sarcastic grin before adding, “Didn’t you know, it’s part of being a good Executive Assistant? Somewhere written in my job description is lists: must have extensive knowledge of local restaurant cuisine.” Charlie looked absolutely stunned for a moment before cautiously asking, “Are you serious? Please tell me you aren’t serious…” Felicity burst out into laughter at the look on his face, and he relaxed and joined in on the joke.

As the laughter died down, Felicity took a drink of her shake and Charlie looked down, clearly contemplating something. “Felicity, I know this might sound weird coming from someone who you haven’t talked to in years…and I really hope I’m not stepping out of bounds here, but I just wanted to ask you a personal question. So, if you don’t want to answer, that’s okay and I understand.” He waited for her to nod before continuing. “Are you…dating your boss?” Felicity almost spewed the milkshake out all over the table, but was quick to cover her mouth with a napkin. As many times as it had been implied behind her back, she was always surprised when someone asked her directly. “No. I am not dating my boss. Why would you think that?” Without missing a beat, Charlie answered her. “Well, a couple of reasons, actually. Don’t you think you’re overqualified to be an EA? I mean, we went to school together, remember? I know how smart you are, and to be honest, I just don’t understand why you would want to be someone’s glorified secretary.”

She sighed and mentally prepared herself for the well-rehearsed speech she had given countless times to friends and family. “Look, I know it isn’t what I studied for and that I am overqualified for the position. I actually started out in the IT department at QC. That was way before I even knew Oliver. Anyway, he came to me for help on several occasions, and over time, we developed a friendship. Oliver is in a very difficult position as CEO of the company, and he wanted someone he could trust to stand by his side and help him.” She paused long enough to take another sip of her milkshake. “Is it the job I always dreamed of having? No. Is it where I saw myself five years after graduating from MIT? No. Basically, I took the job because Oliver is a good friend and he needed my help. It’s as simple as that. Despite how it might look to others, we really are just friends, and our work relationship is strictly professional.”

Charlie had listened carefully while she explained, waiting patiently for his turn to speak. Apparently, Felicity’s brain had finally caught up with her, because her eyebrows furrowed and she added, “Wait a minute. You said a couple of reasons…what was the other reason?” As though he was waiting for her to set him up with that exact question, he responded. “The other reason is that he obviously likes you.”  Felicity shook her head and gave him a very confident, “No…he doesn’t – at least not as more than a friend.” With one of his signature smiles, he goaded her further. “Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?” She couldn’t help the chuckle that forced its way out of her throat. “Trust me. You don’t know him…and I am definitely not his type.” Charlie tilted his head, much like the way she often did to Oliver when he was trying to cover with a convincing lie. “Felicity. Trust **me** when I say that he likes you as more than a friend. Why else would he be so possessive about you going to lunch with me?” A sudden heat ran up her cheeks and she took another swallow of milkshake. “Oliver can sometimes be a little **overprotective** …especially around people he doesn’t know – but it’s just his way of trying to look out for me…as a friend.”

Unconvinced by her explanation, Charlie cocked a smile. “ **We’re** friends too, but you don’t see me--” Felicity cut in before he could finish, her eyebrows raised. “Actually…you were putting off some overprotective, or possessive – whatever you want to call it – vibes too, you know…for a minute there, I was afraid you and Oliver were about to get into a fight.” Charlie looked down briefly before lifting his head back up to meet her eyes, guilt written all over his face. “Okay. You’re right. I did probably overreact earlier, and I’m sorry. It’s just that after seeing you again last night, it felt as though we were right back where we left off four years ago. So when I saw Oliver coming at me in a threatening manner, my protective instinct kicked in and I just reacted without thinking.”

Felicity nodded. “I understand, but you don’t have to worry about protecting me from Oliver; he would never hurt me.” It was second nature for her to jump to Oliver’s defense, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, her brain leapt back to that morning. _Unless he’s having a bad day…then everyone within a three mile radius is fair game to be on the receiving end of his temper…mood? Broodiness! Still, I don’t think he meant to hurt my feelings._ She looked down at her phone and noticed the time; she had already been gone over an hour and a half. “Charlie, I am so sorry to have to do this, but I just realized what time it is, and I probably need to head back to work.” Acknowledging her hint, Charlie rose from the table and turned to Felicity. “Well, it was good to see you again. Thanks for treating me to lunch. If it’s okay with you, I’ll just say goodbye here. I can catch a cab to the airport…and Felicity? I’m sorry if I caused any trouble between you and your boss.” She brushed off his concern and gave him one last hug, making him promise to let her know the next time he would be in town, before saying goodbye and walking out of the restaurant.


	8. An Undeserved Admonishment

Felicity drove back to QC, glancing nervously at the clock in her car every few minutes. She hadn’t intended to be gone that long, and was uneasy about what kind of mood Oliver would be in by the time she got back. His emotions seemed to be all over the place, so there was no telling what to expect when she walked into the office, and she didn’t want to give him any more reason to be upset. When she whipped her mini into the first available parking space, the tires gave a quick chirp as she slammed on the brakes. She was out of the car and practically sprinting toward the elevator in a matter of seconds. Once she was inside the building, she waved her badge at the security desk in an unceremonious manner, not stopping or slowing her brisk pace toward the elevator. After several minutes, Felicity checked the time on her phone and growled inwardly when she heard the elevator ding and stop at yet another floor. _Seriously? At this rate, it would have been faster to take the stairs._

The elevator finally reached her floor, and she sprung out and quickly headed for her desk thinking that maybe by some miracle she had actually beaten Oliver back from lunch. She quickly glanced into his office and didn’t see him, so she continued to start up her computer and take off her jacket, hanging it carefully from the back of her chair. Before she could turn around, she heard footsteps, and knew by the gait, who they belonged to as they approached her desk and stopped. _Oliver_. The guilty feeling of being caught in the act of doing something wrong instantly hit her and she inwardly cursed at her bad luck. However, trying to maintain a calm exterior, she spun around in her seat and busied herself with the first file that she managed to open on her desktop, refusing to look up from her computer until she heard him speak. As soon as she heard his tone, her heart clenched and she tried not to grimace.

“Well…I take it you are finally back from lunch.” He looked down at his wrist watch, making an exaggerated display of checking the time. “Hmm…it’s only a little over an hour since you should have been back.” His words and the fact that his voice had dropped into a menacing tone, told her everything she needed to know – he was upset…again. Felicity opened her mouth to apologize for being late, but Oliver continued his reprimand with narrowed eyes that were glaring at her. “Clearly you didn’t get enough **personal** time off last night.” Felicity’s eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open as she started to protest. “Oliver, I--” He stopped her again by raising his hand and talking over her. “You know what, Felicity? Maybe you need to take the rest of the afternoon off. And just – don’t bother showing up tonight either. You obviously aren’t focused on work right now.”

Felicity didn’t have time to even offer him a response; Oliver was already storming back to his office, letting the door swing wide open before shutting behind him. She sat there in stunned silence, wondering why he was so upset about her being late. Sure, she had been gone longer than she expected, but it wasn’t as though she normally took long lunch breaks; she often had her lunch delivered to the office so she could work during her free time if needed. As she replayed the scene that had just unfolded over and over in her head, her eyes started to sting with tears at his hurtful words. She bit down on her teeth and took in a deep breath through her nose, determined not to start crying, while she turned her computer back off and gathered her things. If Oliver was going to be in this bad of a mood and take it out on her, she saw no reason to stay and take the abuse. Whatever his issues were, he could work through them on his own. She grabbed her purse and jacket and walked out of the office without so much as another glance in his direction.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, she shut her eyes and the tears started to pool at the rim of her glasses before trickling down her hot cheeks. She went down at the same slow pace that had taken her up minutes earlier, stopping every couple of floors, but it didn’t matter anymore. She wasn’t in a hurry and her body managed to walk on auto-pilot while her mind was stuck recounting everything that had happened that day since Oliver came into work. Finally, the doors opened to the lobby and she stepped out onto the marble floor. The sound of people milling about around her dulled to a quiet buzz as she continued to walk in a trancelike state toward the parking garage. One of the security guards from the main desk had said something to her, but she didn’t hear him, too lost in her own thoughts to notice.

As soon as Oliver saw Felicity walk out of the office with her mouth firmly shut and jaw held slightly higher than normal, he regretted everything he had said to her. He knew that he had come down on her harder than he should have and hurt her feelings, but he was so upset about seeing the man from last night, that he wasn’t able to control his anger. _It’s one thing for her to secretly go on a date after work, but to bring him here right under my nose like that – thinking that I don’t know what’s going on..._ Guilt made his stomach churn, and in his mind, he knew that he had no right to be upset with her seeing someone – she didn’t owe him an explanation for how she spent her personal life. He slammed his palm down on his desk and gritted his teeth. _Why do I even care if she’s dating someone?_ Without a moment’s hesitation, his mind supplied the answer. _Don’t kid yourself…you know exactly why_. As he thought of the look on Felicity’s face when he was chewing her out about being late, he lowered his head in shame. _Well, you’ve done it again…jackass._


	9. A Date with 'The Doctor'

It was early afternoon when Felicity got home. Instead of going straight to her apartment, she had decided to take care of a few errands since she had time. In fact, she had enough time to pick up some clothes from the dry cleaners, pop into the mall for a couple of things, and swing by the grocery store for some breakfast staples. By the time she was finished running around town, she was genuinely exhausted and ready to go home and relax. She opened the door to her apartment and threw her purse down on the counter before turning to shut and lock the door behind her. She quickly put the groceries away and went to hang up her freshly laundered clothes in her bedroom closet. After returning to the kitchen, she was still more than a little irritated at how Oliver had been acting all day, and since he wouldn’t tell her what was wrong, she decided to try a different source. She fished her phone out of its designated pocket in her purse and fired off a message.

Felicity: do you know what’s wrong with Oliver?

Digg: no. why?

Felicity: after I got back from lunch, he basically told me to go home and not show up tonight…

Digg: WHAT?!? Why?

Felicity: I dunno - he’s being a total jerk-face today!

Digg: want me to beat him up for you?

Felicity: nah. I tried to ask him what was wrong this morning, but he just snapped at me and then was all broody. :-(

Digg: I will seriously kick his ass if you want me to

Felicity: that’s ok Digg. It’s Friday night, so I’m just going to chill out here – he’ll eventually get over whatever is bothering him…hopefully before Monday morning. Ttyl

Digg: ok. Call me if you need anything.

Felicity hastily shed her work clothes and headed toward to bathroom with her phone in hand. She started running the water in her Jacuzzi tub before turning to grab a bottle from under the sink. _Well, guess what I now have time for – that’s right! A bubble bath!_ She poured a few capfuls of the liquid into the tub and then screwed the lid back on tightly, placing the bottle back under the sink. As water continued to fill the tub causing a white sheet of bubbles to form across the top, she could smell the sweet fragrance of citrus. It wasn’t her usual scent, but she nevertheless found it to be quite relaxing and that was exactly what she needed right now. The water level continued to steadily rise, and the sound of the running water was already starting to ease some of her tension.

Felicity unlocked her phone and opened up her music app, scrolling through several customized playlists before selecting her favorite 80’s Mix, and placing the phone on the bathroom counter. A few moments later, her clothes were in a pile on the floor. She stuck the toes of her right foot into the hot water; the rest of her followed shortly. It felt wonderful to lay there and allow the jets of water massaging her body to relieve her stress while she scooped up handfuls of bubbles and sang along with her favorite songs. When ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ came on, she just leaned her head back against the tub and sighed.   _Oh, Whitney…you and me both, girl!_

Once the water in the tub started to get cool, her playlist had already ended and the bubbles had all but vanished. Felicity decided she had soaked long enough, so she grabbed her extra fluffy lime green towel and stepped out of the water, wrapping herself as her feet touched the soft matching green floor mat. She reached back around and pushed a button to drain the tub and headed towards her bedroom to get dressed. She opened her pajama drawer and grabbed the first camisole she found, and then rummaged through her panty drawer for some matching underwear. After her hair was wrapped up in a towel and secured in place on top of her head, she retrieved her phone, left the bedroom, and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a menu from on top of the refrigerator. _Let’s see. What do I feel like having for dinner tonight? Well, I think comfort food is a given. Hmm…Chinese. Definitely Chinese. Lots and lots of Chinese_ …A moment later, she was looking down at her cellphone and already dialing the all-too-familiar Chinese restaurant ‘Tasty Panda House’; she always laughed at the name, but their food was delicious. After placing the order for an obscene amount of takeout for one, she went back into her bathroom to dry her hair.

As far as Felicity was concerned, it had not been a good day. She was amazed at how she could have such a wonderful time the night before, only to be overshadowed by the coming events of the next day. _If I had known today was going to be like this, I would have just stayed home!_ Felicity let out an exasperated huff and stormed towards the kitchen. As she reached the refrigerator, she yanked the door open and scanned its contents, quickly finding the large bottle of Zinfandel that was laying on the bottom shelf; it was too tall to stand. She shut the door and stood there staring at the freezer for a minute, quietly contemplating to herself. _Oh, what the hell! Why not?_ She opened the freezer and grabbed the mint chocolate chip ice cream before shutting the door and swiping a spoon from the utensil drawer.

With spoon in hand and the ice cream under one arm, she grasped the wine bottle in her other hand and swiped a clean wine glass from the counter. She plopped down on the couch and placed everything on the coffee table before pouring herself a generous glass of wine. She then silenced her phone and tablet, placing them on the corner of the table, picked up her remote, and got Netflix running; it was definitely a Doctor Who marathon kind of night. The food would be arriving any minute, but she was already hungry. As the opening theme song played, she placed the ice cream container in her lap, and reached for her glass of wine, with a smile. _I’ve got a date with “The Doctor”. Hellooo, David Tennant – you sexy beast!_


	10. A Few Choice Words

When Digg arrived at the foundry that night, Oliver was already there, dressed in his workout clothes, beating the practice dummies into submission. If the sweat dripping off his bare chest was any indication, he had already been working out for a quite a while. Digg quietly approached him, keeping his breathing slow and calculated in an effort to stay calm. He hoped that his voice would not reveal the anger that was bubbling up inside of him over his conversation with Felicity. “Oliver, is there something you want to talk about?” Oliver didn’t even look up, instead, he continued to pound relentlessly on the training dummy, while letting out a forceful, “No.” Digg stepped closer until he was standing only a couple of feet away from Oliver before asking in a now much sterner voice. “Let me rephrase the question. Is there anything you **need** to talk about?” Unfazed, Oliver maintained a steady rhythm of blows to the equipment. “Not really. What would give you that idea?” Digg simply responded with only one word. “Felicity.”

At the mention of her name, he struck the dummy one more time before turning towards Digg, the anger clearly written on his face. “Why? What did she say?” Digg, not the slightest bit intimidated by Oliver’s heated reaction, continued in an evenly measured tone, however, he wasn’t quite able to hide the fury that he was feeling. “Oh, not much…she just told me about how you were being a ‘jerk-face’ – her words, not mine.” Oliver was practically fuming at the accusation. “Oh, really? Well, did she **also** tell you that she is secretly dating someone?” Digg’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, before narrowing again in an effort to reclaim a more seriousness expression. “No. What does that have to do with you telling her to go home and not come to the lair tonight?” Oliver didn’t answer him, choosing instead to turn away and stare at the wall. Digg considered the statement Oliver had made and chose to continue his line of questioning cautiously, this time with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “Oliver…if Felicity **is** secretly dating someone…how do **you** know about it?” Oliver could no longer contain his composure, and he blurted out in an elevated voice, “Because I **saw** her Digg! I saw **them**! He was all over her in the parking lot!”

Digg took a moment to quietly contemplate Oliver’s revelation before slowly crossing his arms over his chest and lowering his head, while raising a single eyebrow, much like a father who had just caught his son doing something questionable. “Oh, so you were spying on her.” This time, it wasn’t a question, and Oliver was quick to defend himself. “I wasn’t **spying**!” His childlike retort only served to further amuse the older man, so he let out a small chuckle and continued in his unwaveringly calm tone. “Okay, Oliver...what were you doing then? Gathering intel?” He blew an annoyed puff of air out of his nose. “This is Felicity’s personal life we are talking about.”  Oliver knew he didn’t really have a legitimate reason for following her the night before, so he let out a defeated breath and slumped his shoulders forward in defeat, opting for the truth. “I followed her because…she asked to take the night off…and then she just seemed…anxious about something for the rest of the day.” He looked down at the ground and shook his head. “I thought something might be wrong and that maybe she just wasn’t telling me – I didn’t know she was going on a date.”

Digg understood the concern in Oliver’s voice, but wanted to make it clear that he did not approve of the way he had overstepped the boundaries of their friendship. “Okay. So you followed her last night and saw her in a parking lot with a man. Maybe Felicity **does** have a boyfriend…and if that’s the case, so what? Last time I checked, she was of legal age. I think she has the right to date someone if she wants.” Oliver took the opportunity to add to his argument. “I know that, but she just needs to be careful. You never know who-” Digg interrupted him before he could finish. “Oliver, Felicity is a grown-ass woman, not to mention a pretty good judge of character, so I’m sure she can take care of herself when it comes to her dating life.” Oliver didn’t seem satisfied with his answer, so he practically growled at him, his voice continuing to escalate. “Digg, we don’t know anything about this guy. Why didn’t she tell us she was dating someone? What is there to hide? I thought she would have at least told **you**!”

Digg paused for a moment, taking in the anger and frustration on his friend’s face. He thought of Felicity like a sister, so it did hurt a little that she might be dating someone, and for whatever reason, neglected to tell him. Nevertheless, he understood that she had a right to her own private life outside of what they did together. “She hasn’t said anything to me about it, and that’s fine; it isn’t any of my business. If she wants to tell us, then she will.” Digg stopped long enough for Oliver to look back up at him before continuing. “You still haven’t explained why you told her to go home.” Oliver knew he couldn’t dodge the question any longer, so he spilled the real reason. “He showed up at the office today to take her out to lunch. I got upset.” In his mind, the explanation made perfect sense, so he was surprised to hear Digg chuckle and then see the man shake his head, trying to suppress the smile that was threatening to appear on his face. “Oliver, you do realize that you sound like a jealous boyfriend, right?”

Oliver’s body tensed, and he met Digg's questioning gaze with a determined look. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve told you why we can’t be together.” Digg disregarded his attempt to convince him that he wasn’t jealous, and continued with his train of thought. “Am I being ridiculous? It isn’t a big secret that you and Felicity have feelings for each other…” Before Oliver could protest, he added, “ **not** strictly platonic feelings. Do I need to remind you about Barry? You were suspicious of him too…” The pieces were starting to fall into place inside Digg’s mind as he smiled knowingly, seemingly enjoying himself. “You know, you pretty much reacted exactly like you are now when he showed the slightest bit of interest in Felicity.” He studied Oliver’s face for any sign of recognition at his observation, but if his words had any affect, Oliver did a good job of keeping his face emotionless, effectively masking his feelings. Digg sighed heavily, and finally added, “and just for the record – as for the reason why you **think** the two of you can’t be together…I think it’s utter bullshit.” Oliver looked completely shocked at Digg’s brutal honesty, and he felt like he needed to provide an explanation before the conversation continued down the path it was going.

He finally found his voice, and managed a soft and somewhat sad response. “Digg, I just don’t want her to get hurt.” Digg’s face went serious again, and he slowly nodded before stating, “Oliver, you might not realize this, but right now… **you’re** the one who is hurting her.” Oliver let his head drop slightly as he considered the truth to what had just been spoken, but he was unable to say anything before the older man continued. “Look, man…I can’t tell you how or what to feel – you need to sort that out on your own... **But** \--” He waited for Oliver to make direct eye contact before continuing in a stern voice that made it clear there was no arguing with what he was about to say. “You definitely owe Felicity an apology for the way you treated her today, if for no other reason than the fact that she is your friend, and she has **always** been here for you – for both of us. She deserves better, so make it right.” After hearing Digg mention those familiar words, his mind started echoing what Felicity had told him that morning. _I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you._ He was so lost in thought, that he didn’t notice Digg had already turned around to leave for patrol. He was halfway up the stairs when Oliver called out to him, “Hey Digg. Thanks.” The man nodded and finished climbing the stairs, letting the door shut behind him, leaving Oliver to ponder everything they had talked about.


	11. A Midnight Apology

Digg’s words had weighed heavily on Oliver’s mind. He knew that his friend was right, and he appreciated his honesty, even though it was sometimes difficult to swallow. Digg knew he cared for Felicity as more than a friend, and if he was truly honest with himself, he knew it too; he had for a long time. Oliver pulled out his phone and stared at her number, about to push the call button, when he stopped. _What do I say? I can’t do this over the phone.  I need to see her – talk to her face to face. I need her to understand that I really am sorry. I had no right to treat her like that. She **does** deserve better._ He took a deep breath and headed for the side entrance of the foundry, letting the sound of the door closing, followed by the beep of the keypad seal his decision.

He started his bike and headed toward Felicity’s apartment, still struggling to think of what he would say to her once he got there. Like he had done the night before, he carefully parked his motorcycle in between the same two buildings and looked up at her window, orange curtains blowing in the breeze. _Again with the window! How many times?_ He let out a small frustrated huff before stealthily making his way across to her building. After reaching her window, he peered through the curtains to find her bedroom empty. He knew it was late, and by this hour, she should definitely be home. His ears picked up the faint noise of voices in the background, and he was sure it had to be the television. Carefully maneuvering his bow through the window, he allowed the rest of his body to follow suit, letting his shoes hit the carpet softly. Following the trail of light that was coming from her living room, he advanced toward the door with slow and deliberate steps. His mind was still trying to work out how he should begin his apology, when he reached the doorway of her bedroom and all the thoughts he had been focusing on, promptly left him.

He stood there frozen in place, looking out into the living room where he quickly spotted Felicity passed out on the couch. He noticed that she was already dressed for bed, wearing a very tight dark purple camisole and boy shorts that were a slightly lighter shade of purple. One foot had a bright purple fuzzy sock on it, while its partner was twisted up on the floor by the couch like a scrunched up little alien creature. A purple blanket was half covering the back of the couch, and half draped over one of her legs. _Gee, I wonder if Felicity likes the color purple…_ He heard her take in a deep breath, and his expression softened as he stared at her sleeping peacefully stretched out on the chocolate brown cushions. His eyes wandered to the coffee table, where he noticed several takeout containers, an empty wine glass, a very large empty wine bottle, and a pint container of ice cream – also empty. _Mint chocolate chip, if I had to guess_. As he had suspected, the TV was still on, and although it wasn’t one he was familiar with, he was willing to bet it was one of those science fiction shows she was always referencing. He didn’t quite know how to go about waking her up, and didn’t want to startle her, so he just did the first thing that came to his mind.

He knocked on the wooden bedroom door frame, and watched as her head jerked up from the couch pillow and looked through squinted eyes in the general direction of the door in confusion. She slowly managed to get to her feet, resembling a newborn giraffe taking its first steps, and started making her way towards the kitchen when he let out a whistle. Spinning around toward the sudden noise, and having to steady herself by holding onto the counter, she saw Oliver standing in her bedroom doorway. She blinked slowly a couple of times, took the few steps back to her couch, and stared just to make sure he was really there. Sure enough, there he stood in her bedroom doorway, wearing his Arrow outfit and giving her a somewhat concerned look. She let out a huff and spoke to him in a mock accusing tone, her speech slower than normal. “ **You’re** not my door. I **know** I heard it knocking.” She turned her head to face the door before continuing. “and YET…you’re **there**.” She quickly turned her head back to face him, pointing her finger at him accusingly, while her head tried to make sense of the situation. He chuckled in amusement at her drunken confusion. “You’re right. I came in through the window. You know, the one I have told you countless times to keep closed.”

She giggled and gave him a shy look before pointing at her bedroom area, and arguing, “ **That’s** …not…a window.” Oliver pretended to play along and slowly started walking toward her, closing the distance between the two of them. “Oh, really? Well, if it isn’t a window, what is it then?" She was smiling a little too broadly at him and trying to contain more giggles. “Well, technically…it **is** a window…but I like to refer to it as…‘The **Arrow** Door’!” She motioned as though she was shooting an imaginary arrow before collapsing onto the couch in a fit of laughter, curling her legs up to her chest, with her arms holding her stomach. Oliver just stood there staring at his IT girl, his EA, his friend, laughing uncontrollably as though she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.  _Wow. Just…wow, Felicity._ He scanned the room for evidence of more empty wine bottles sitting around before grabbing the one from the table; he held it up to check the alcohol content, letting out a low whistle. _16% - well it **is** a big bottle. I guess if she drank all of it by herself…that might explain…_ He looked back at Felicity, who was now lying on the couch, motionless. _This…_

He managed to find enough room to sit down on a cushion next to her, and took a calming breath before saying, “Felicity. I – I have something…can I please say something to you?” She nodded her head as she said, “Mmm-hmm.”  He let his hand gently caress her shoulder as he leaned over and whispered softly in her ear, “I’m sorry for being a jerk-face today.” She turned her head toward him with a lazy smile and reached out to cup his face with both hands. “It’s not really a jerk-face. You have such a nice face. I like your face.” He was suddenly very aware of their close proximity, as well as a new citrus smell that was unfamiliar. In an effort to distance himself, he gently removed her hands from his face, returning her smile, and said, “Thank you.” Before he could sit up, she snaked her arms around his chest and pulled him down on top of her into a tight hug, squeezing some of the air out of his lungs. Having been caught off guard, his body immediately tensed on instinct, and his heart rate started to increase, however, his attention was diverted the next moment when he heard a soft sniffing sound.

He cleared his throat. “Um – Felicity? Are you…are you **sniffing** me?” Her eyes were closed and he could feel her soft lips turn into a smile against his skin as she continued to press her nose to his neck and inhale. Her voice sounded dreamy and far away when she answered him. “Mmm-hmm. *sniff* And you smell…*sniff*…really good…like leather…and…*sniff*…something else that smells…really good.” He chuckled softly, smiled into her hair, and whispered, “I’m glad you like the way I smell. You smell good too.” While pushing off the couch with one hand, he slid his other arm behind her back to pull her into a sitting position beside him, her arms held firmly around his waist. He glanced down to see that her eyes were still closed as she leaned into his side, her head falling onto his chest, causing some of her curls to tumble forward across her face. He found the remote on the armrest of the couch, and turned the TV off, leaving the room with only a soft glow from the lamp in the corner of the room. He sat there in silence, basking in the peaceful feeling he had just from her being next to him.

He could tell by her breathing that she was falling back asleep, and when he looked at the digital clock from the microwave, he decided it was time for him to leave. He gently moved the hair from her face and shook her lightly with the arm that was wrapped around her waist, whispering her name. “Felicity?” She didn’t lift her head from his chest, but responded with a faint, “hmm?” He knew she needed a proper night’s sleep to recover from the alcohol she had consumed. “Is it okay for me to take you to your bed?” Her head rolled back from his chest to his shoulder, as her mouth broke into a grin, her eyes still refusing to open. “Yes, Oliver. You can take me to bed.” His stomach lurched at her words, and the possible meaning that could have been hidden behind them. He cleared his throat and swallowed before repositioning her so that he could lift her easily. As soon as he stood up, her arms found their way around his neck, and he could feel a tiny strip of skin on her back, where the camisole she was wearing had ridden up slightly. He inhaled sharply as she shifted to nuzzle her face into his neck, and he was suddenly struck with how natural it felt to hold her body this close to his. He took his time walking back to her room before laying her down on the soft bright pink sheets.

After tucking her in under the covers and brushing the golden curls away from her face, he started looking around the room. _Okay, now_ _I need some Aspirin, Tylenol, something...and a glass of water._ He walked into her bathroom and immediately spotted what appeared to be a medicine cabinet. He hesitated for a moment. _God, I hope this is where she keeps medicine and Band-Aids…and not…other stuff._ Part of him felt like he was invading her privacy again just by opening the cabinet, but he ultimately decided that it was for her own good. He let out a sigh of relief when it did turn out to be where she kept her medicine and Band-Aids, along with some other very familiar medical supplies – including everything one would need to stitch up a wound. He smiled and wondered if she now considered it to be normal to have those things on hand because of how they spent their nights. He grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and shut the cabinet. After getting a glass of water from the kitchen, he returned to the bedroom and sat down on her bed next to her. He flipped the switch on her bedside table lamp, immediately flooding the room with a warm glow.

He looked down at her peaceful face, and gently laid his hand on her bare shoulder before waking her again. “Felicity?” She smiled and let out a contented sigh before saying his name in response. “Oliver.” He shook her shoulder a little more before continuing. “Hey. I know you really just want to sleep right now, but I need you to take a couple of Tylenol and drink some water, okay?” She groaned, but made an effort to sit up. Oliver helped her get into a sitting position before handing her the pills. She immediately popped them into her mouth and held her hand out blindly for the glass. He chuckled at the fact that her eyes remained closed, and promptly handed her the glass and waited for her to tighten her grasp before he let go. She quickly drank half of the water before letting out a satisfied, “Ahhhh!” and thrusting the glass back out away from her. Oliver took the glass and placed it on the bedside table next to the Tylenol bottle before standing up from the bed. He bent down and helped her reposition herself back down under the sheets. After pulling the covers up to her chin, he brushed her forehead with a gentle kiss and whispered, “Goodnight Felicity. Sweet dreams.” He wasn’t sure if she heard him, but he lingered for another moment, silently watching the covers rise and fall with her steady breathing.

As he stood there staring down at her sleeping form, his mind started whirling with thoughts of the past two days. He was unsettled by the strong feelings he was having toward Felicity – feelings that were stirred up by seeing her with another man. He had tried so hard to suppress his feelings for her, carefully keeping her at a safe distance, knowing it was in her best interest. Yet, despite his efforts, she had managed to find her way into his heart, and now that she was there, he didn’t want her to ever leave. He closed his eyes and remembered how right it felt to hold her, how her nearness had eased him into a peaceful state. He hated leaving her like this, knowing that he owed her a better apology, but he wanted to make sure she remembered their conversation. From the state she was in, he doubted if she would remember much, if anything that had transpired that night. He wanted to tell her how he felt, to explain his behavior, but it would have to wait for tomorrow. He had finally made a decision; first thing tomorrow morning, he would tell her exactly how he felt. As he reached over and flipped the switch on her lamp, his phone went off inside the pocket of his leather jacket. He pulled it out and the screen lit up to reveal a message from Digg, to which he promptly responded before grabbing his bow and disappearing through the window.

Digg: Warehouse checked out. Deal going down in 35

Oliver: Heading out now. Will be there in about 20


	12. An Eventful Morning

It was 6:42 when Felicity woke up the next morning. Everything in her room seemed too bright, so she tried to keep her eyes squinted while her hand roamed around on the bedside table until it landed on her glasses. Slowly, her eyes started to adjust, but there was a consistent dull aching in her head. _Headache. I need some Tylenol. Oliver gave me Tylenol. OLIVER! He was here last night!_ That revelation was enough to make her sit up straight in the bed, head still pounding, as she clutched the comforter on either side of her with both hands. _I’m in bed. Why am I in bed? I remember watching Dr. Who last night, but I was on the couch._ _Oliver must have put me in bed. Why was he even here?_ She closed her eyes and groaned at the thought of Oliver seeing her in such a drunken state. A panic struck her, and she quickly lifted the sheet and comforter in one swift motion. _Whew. At least I was already in my pajamas_ …

She stared down at the camisole and boy shorts before closing her eyes again and letting out a sarcastic chuckle. _Oh wow…Oliver saw me in my…not so modest pajamas… That’s wonderful…absolutely wonderful.  It really never ends – apparently, I will never be able to stop embarrassing myself in front of him!_ She slowly swung her feet out from under the covers and sat with both legs hanging over the side of her bed; her head protested at the sudden movement. _I just wish this stupid headache would go away so that I can think clearly!_ Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the Tylenol bottle and half a glass of water sitting on her bedside table, and sighed at his thoughtfulness. _At least he was trying to help prevent me from having the worst hangover of my life. ‘A’ for effort…but I probably should have finished that glass of water_ …

She forced herself to stand up, and made her way to the bathroom, hesitating before turning on the light. She reached into the shower and turned the water on, rotating the handle until it was on the hottest setting. After waiting a few minutes, and slipping out of her pajamas, she stepped into the stream and let out a huge sigh at the comfort brought on by the hot water washing over her body. She felt the tension in her head start to ease as she worked the shampoo into her scalp in gentle massaging circles. Her mind quickly began to recall the events of the night before, when Oliver had paid her an unexpected visit, however, it was only in small flashes – like slides on a film projector. She worked hard to piece the images together into something that made sense. _He came to apologize. Did he ever say why he was in such a bad mood yesterday? I don’t remember_ … She finished washing her body and allowed herself to enjoy the hot stream of water for a few more minutes before drying off and wrapping herself up into a soft towel.

Although the shower had helped some, her head was still throbbing as she left the steamy bathroom and walked into her bedroom. Spying the Tylenol bottle and half-empty glass on her bedside table again, she twisted the lid off and shook a couple of pills into the palm of her hand before popping them into her mouth and finishing the rest of the water. She walked over to her dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a clean bra and matching panties. Moving down to the next drawer, without really looking, she reached in and grabbed a bright blue sleeveless shirt and a pair of jean shorts. It was Saturday, and all she wanted to do was be comfortable; she dressed quickly and put her hair up in the towel.

It was a little after 7:00 when she walked out of her bedroom and headed into the living room; she halted in her tracks when she saw the disaster area she had left behind. Her mouth dropped open in horror as she approached the couch and saw the Chinese takeout containers, some empty, some with remnants of food still covering the bottom. There were a few noodles and a couple of stray pieces of broccoli and chicken littering the table. The empty ice cream container was also there, her spoon sitting in a melted puddle on the inside of the lid. Her hand flew up to shield her eyes from the sight as she let out a disgusted groan. _Great…now Oliver must think I’m a total slob_. She let her hand fall back to her side and opened her eyes to see the enormous empty wine bottle sitting on her coffee table. _And an alcoholic..._

It didn’t take her very long to straighten up the mess she had made; she threw away the takeout boxes, ice cream container, and wine bottle before going over the entire surface of her coffee table with several Clorox wipes. She then carefully folded her purple blanket and placed it on the back of the couch, where it belonged. The fuzzy purple sock that she must have somehow kicked off last night found its way into her hamper where its partner was already lying on top. _Hmm…Oliver must have put it there._ Returning to the living room, she looked back down at the couch and saw her phone and tablet. She had absentmindedly placed them there when she was clearing the table, and she remembered that they were both still silenced from the night before. She reached down and picked up her phone to turn the notification sound back on when she saw something that made her stomach drop. _Oh crap! Seven missed messages and a missed phone call – from Digg._

Digg: Oliver has been hurt! I’m taking him to Starling General

Digg: doctor thinks he will be ok, but he hit his head pretty hard. Has concussion

Digg: we are in room 423 – take a left off the elevator

Digg: are you getting any of my messages?

Digg: where are you?

Digg: Oliver is awake, and he wants to know where you are…

Digg: I hope you’re getting my messages. I tried calling, but it went to voicemail.

By the time she finished reading the messages, her mind was racing and her body was completely numb. Without wasting another moment, Felicity shoved her cellphone into the pocket of her jean shorts, and ripped the towel off of her head as she ran to her bedroom; she didn’t care that her hair was still wet and hadn’t even been brushed. She reached into the closet for a pair of flats that she could easily slip into, ran back out into the den and grabbed the tablet from the couch, and snatched her purse and keys off the kitchen counter before rushing out the door. Felicity didn’t bother to check the speedometer as she raced toward Starling General; in less than fifteen minutes, she was parked and sprinting toward the building.


	13. A Sigh of Relief

As Felicity entered the hospital room, she noticed that Oliver was half-sitting up in the bed with his head facing the outside window; she quickly placed her purse and tablet on one of the empty chairs beside his bed. Before she could start apologizing about having her phone turned off, Oliver turned to her and gazed at her with a soft look and smile on his face. “Hey there, beautiful.” Felicity’s cheeks flushed and she abruptly stopped walking, her head jerking around to face him. “Uh…w-what?” He reached his hand out toward her with his eyes fixed on hers. “I’m so glad you’re here now.” She cautiously stepped forward and let him take her hand in his, wondering what it the world was going on, before a familiar voice spoke from a dark corner of the room, making her jump slightly. Apparently, Digg had been sitting in one of the chairs trying to take a nap when she arrived. She pulled her hand back and turned her body to face the direction of the voice. “Hey Digg, sorry I’m--”She was cut off before she could finish.

“About time you got here - He’s been asking about you all morning.” Digg sounded exhausted; Felicity knew from the time stamp on his first message that he had been here since about 1:40 in the morning. She immediately felt guilty for forgetting to turn her phone back on until after her shower. “I’m really sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I sort of had my phone and tablet…silenced last night, and forgot to turn them back on until later this morning.” Digg didn’t seem to be too upset. He stood up from the chair and stretched his arms straight out from his sides, the soft light from the window now illuminating his features to reveal an understanding expression. “That explains why you didn’t answer any of my texts.” Felicity looked down for a second before meeting his eyes with a timid smile. “Yep…again, I’m sorry. But hey! I’m here now, so is there anything I can do?” A big smile lit up his face as he placed a hand on her arm and began guiding her towards the door before calling back over his shoulder, “Oliver, we’re just going to step outside for a second.” He ushered her outside the room and gently closed the door with a soft *click* before looking back at her.

“Actually, there **is** something you can do for me.” Felicity waited for him to continue. “You can stay here and keep an eye on Oliver so that I can go home and check on Lyla…and maybe get some sleep in an actual bed. Those chairs aren’t very comfortable.” Without missing a beat, she answered him enthusiastically. “Of course! Tell Lyla hi for me.” She looked around the hallway and lowered her voice before she spoke again. “Digg…what exactly happened last night?” His face was serious again, but the weariness was also showing through. “It was supposed to be an easy bust, but there were a lot more guys than we expected. Oliver was holding his own against three of them, but somehow, one lucky thug got the drop on him and managed to land a solid punch. He knocked Oliver backwards off of a couple of crates…and he hit his head pretty hard when he landed.” Digg looked down at his feet. “I was able to fire off a couple of shots, scaring away the few that were left standing. When I reached Oliver, he was unconscious…and he stayed that way for a long time. We had already been here several hours before he finally woke up.”

Felicity could sense Digg’s guilt, and quickly tried to lighten the mood. “Let me guess, you told the hospital that it was a ‘motorcycle accident’, right?” A twinkle suddenly appeared in his eyes and the corner of his mouth twitched up at the inside joke. “Yeah…although I’m not sure how many more times we can get away with using that excuse.” Felicity laughed and shook her head at the overused cover story for Oliver’s injuries. Turning back to Digg, she asked, “Have the doctors said anything about his condition?” Digg let out a heavy sigh before answering her. “Well, other than the minor cuts and bruises, they don’t seem to be too concerned – except for the fact that he was unconscious for so long. They’ve been running some tests, but the doctor hasn’t been back in to discuss the results yet.” He looked at his watch and noted that it was almost 8:30 in the morning. “However, I imagine he will be back soon. Let me know what he says. I’ll try to get some sleep, and be ready to relieve you sometime this afternoon.” A mischievous look flashed in his eyes before he added, “Oh, and Felicity…make sure you keep your phone turned on, okay?” She laughed and reached up, patting his arm affectionately. “Don’t worry, I will. You go ahead and get some rest. I can stay here with him as long as you need.” Felicity gave him a brief hug before turning back to the door, hesitating slightly before turning the handle and stepping inside.

Once the door was shut, there was a moment of silence before she heard Oliver’s somewhat gruff, yet tender voice. “Hey. Come here.” She obliged him by walking around the bed towards the chair that was positioned by his side and the outside wall with the window. As soon as she sat down, he was reaching out for her hand again. She reluctantly gave it to him, and inhaled slightly as he slowly laced their fingers together before speaking. “When I woke up and you weren’t here…I almost panicked. I just- Digg said he couldn’t reach you and I didn’t know where you were, or if you were safe. I felt so – helpless.” He was staring at their intertwined hands the entire time he spoke, but when he was finished, he looked up at her with passionate eyes that were filled with so much emotion. It was enough to cause butterflies in her stomach, but she tried to push them away and lighten the conversation.

“Well, now you know that I’m safe, and I’m right here, so you can stop worrying about me, okay?” His face turned serious in an instant, the hand holding hers instinctively tightened. “I’ll always worry about you, Felicity.” His voice was sincere, and the sentiment of his statement caught her off-guard. She carefully unlaced her fingers, removing her hand from his, so that she could give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Well, right now, you just need to focus on getting better so we can go home – I mean, so **you** can go home…so we can get **you** home. There!…not like we are actually going home **together** …” She muttered the last part under her breath, but he somehow heard it and replied with confusion, “What do you mean, we aren’t going home together?” Felicity was sure she had heard him wrong, so she asked for clarification. “I’m sorry – what?” Oliver didn’t hesitate before asking, “Why **wouldn’t** we go home together, Felicity? We live together now – we’re dating…”

Felicity just stared at him and took a moment to let his words sink in, while she was simultaneously starting to question her own sanity. _What the **hell** is going on? Either I’m in the middle of a **really** weird dream, or I’ve completely lost my **mind** , or – exactly how much wine did I **drink** last night? Because I’ve **never** experienced hangover symptoms quite like **this**_ … At that moment, she looked up and noticed the IV bags dripping into the tubing that was running down the side of the bed, and over his arm, where it disappeared underneath a patch of adhesive. Felicity let out an understanding chuckle and gave Oliver an exaggerated wink and nod. “Of course! I get it now. For a minute there, I was…a little worried. Wow, they must have you hooked up to some **pretty** … **good** …stuff, huh?” She gave him an understanding smile and nodded slowly with another reassuring pat to his shoulder before continuing. “Why don’t you just close your eyes and relax. Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.” As if her words were laced with a magical sleeping potion, Oliver’s eyes grew heavy with the sound of her voice, and his thoughts were filled with Felicity as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 


	14. A Diagnosis of Delusional Disorder

Oliver was asleep when Felicity heard a sharp knock on the door before it opened, revealing a tall thin elderly man wearing a long white coat. He observed that Oliver was sleeping, so he made his way towards the side of the bed where Felicity was sitting, his arm held out to shake hers. “Hi there. I’m Dr. Lawton.” Felicity stood to shake his hand before introducing herself. “Felicity Smoak – Oli – I mean, Mr. Queen’s Executive Assistant.” Dr. Lawton took a quick glance down at the paper on his clipboard, and then looked back up at her. “Yes, I see that you are listed as his emergency contact.” Felicity was a little taken aback at this revelation, but didn’t have time to process it because the doctor continued to speak. “Mr. Queen has also indicated through his signed authorization form that we are allowed to discuss anything pertaining to his medical condition and treatment with you.” If he noticed the surprised look on her face, he didn’t let on, but rather continued to talk to her. “Has he woken up yet?” She forced herself to focus on the question, and answered, “Um – yes, he was awake earlier, but I told him he should try to rest some more…I hope that’s okay.”

The doctor simply nodded and proceeded to flip through the papers that were on his clipboard, scanning through various charts and test results, before smiling satisfactorily. “Well, Ms. Smoak, the test results do not indicate anything to be concerned about. His blood work showed everything to be within an acceptable range, and the scans revealed no broken bones - which is fortunate given the nature of his accident. It's a good thing he was wearing a helmet, or his condition could have been a lot worse. I'll sign off on his release shortly.” He was already walking back toward the door, when he threw out, “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.” His hand was on the doorknob when he heard Felicity let out a soft laugh. “Well, I am a little curious about what kind of pain medicine you guys gave him…I mean, he must be on some really strong stuff, as loopy as he was acting earlier.”

The doctor stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her, a serious and puzzled expression replacing his previously jovial face. “No, not really. We have him on a very mild painkiller. What do you mean, he was acting loopy?” Felicity noticed the change in Dr. Lawton’s demeanor, and fumbled to answer him without sounding anxious, although she couldn’t help the sense of panic that was starting to rise up within her. “Oh, well he was just acting a little strange…you know…saying funny stuff earlier. Maybe he’s just really sensitive to painkillers in general.” Felicity offered the explanation in an effort to convince herself that it was nothing to be worried about, as though saying it out loud would somehow make it true.

A concerned expression quickly came over the doctor’s face as his eyebrows drew close and he narrowed his gaze, immediately letting her know that wasn’t the case. “He shouldn’t be reacting to what we gave him. Because he was unconscious for so long, we decided to forgo anything that could affect his cognitive function. What did he say, exactly?” Felicity felt her cheeks burning as she glanced toward the bed, and the doctor must have sensed that she was uncomfortable speaking about it in Oliver’s presence, so he gestured towards the door. “Ms. Smoak, why don’t we step outside for a moment?” She glanced at Oliver’s motionless form before quietly nodding and following the doctor out of the room and into the hallway.

As soon as they were a few steps away from the door, Dr. Lawton wasted no time in questioning Felicity further. “Now then, if you don’t mind telling me, what exactly did he say or do that was so strange?” Felicity blinked a few times and hesitated, trying to think of the best way to phrase her thoughts. “Well…he said something that made it sound like he thought…he indicated that…okay...” She took a deep breath and blurted out the next words, her voice noticeably higher and faster than it was before. “He said that we’re dating – and we’re **not**! We haven’t… **ever** …dated – each other…we haven’t ever dated each other. Of course, we have dated **other** people...but me and Oliver? That would be ridiculous. I mean, yeah, we're friends, but that's all. He’s just a little…confused. Musta hit his head harder than we thought, right? I'll have to make sure he gets a better helmet.” Felicity was laughing nervously, but Dr. Lawton didn’t seem to find the information funny or amusing, and curtly asked, “Did you correct him?” She was taken aback by his tone, but quickly responded. “Well, not exactly, no…I was going to and then I saw the IVs and just assumed he was…high…on the drugs – from the IV – IV drugs…not the illegal kind of drugs…he doesn’t do illegal drugs…or any drugs…but don’t worry – because I will definitely tell him as soon as – ”

“No!” Dr. Lawton interjected with such force that Felicity was momentarily shocked into silence at his outburst. She blinked and recovered enough to ask for clarification. “I’m sorry, ‘no’ **what**?” He gave her an intimidating stare and explained in a much calmer tone. “Whatever you do - don't contradict him. Apparently, there was more trauma to his head than i initially suspected." At Felicity's surprised expression, he continued. "Head injuries are a very serious matter; right now, it seems his mind is more than likely in a somewhat fragile state. The tests that we ran don’t specifically indicate any problems, but from what you described, it sounds like he might be suffering from some sort of delusional disorder. Unfortunately, there aren't any tests we can do to confirm this, but if he is experiencing symptoms of delusional disorder, it’s best to minimize any confusion – which could hinder his recovery. People suffering from this type of condition have a tendency to become hostile if their sense of reality is thrown into question - hence my caution over correcting him. Although inconvenient, whatever illusions he believes to be true, I’m afraid you will just have to go along with it as best as you can until his brain has had enough time to heal properly.”

Felicity let out a laugh and a small snort before commenting, “Oh wow, that’s a good one – you almost got me! Talk about your everyday cliché soap opera head injury storyline…plot. So...what’s really going on with him?” Dr. Lawton didn’t say anything and Felicity started to get nervous. “You **were** kidding, right?” The doctor maintained a serious expression and gave her a stern look that basically said _Do I look like I’m kidding?_ It was enough to wipe the smile off her face in a heartbeat. “Oh…oh my God…you’re not…you’re **not** kidding!” She put a hand on her forehead and looked down, shaking her head back and forth. “Of course you’re not kidding…this isn’t a TV show and you’re a **real** doctor. Why would you joke about your patients…I mean, that would be completely unprofessional…and you seem like a very professional type of –” She looked up at him with a desperate expression. “Dr. Lawton, I’m not sure you completely understand the situation. Oliv – Mr. Queen thinks that he and I are… **dating** – each other…and you expect me to just ' **go along** ' with that?” She was giving him an incredulous look, but his face could not have been more serious. “Yes. If you care about his mental health and want to help him make a full recovery, then yes. I do expect you to go along with it.”

Dr. Lawton's tone left no room for question, and Felicity swallowed. “You mean, I actually have to pretend to be his…” She couldn’t manage to get the word out, and cleared her throat nervously, deciding to focus instead on the only positive thing the doctor had said; Oliver would recover. “So, um…you said until he gets better. How long do you think that will be? I mean – are we talking about a couple of days...or maybe a week?” Understanding her concern, the doctor nodded before answering. “With head injuries, the recovery period can vary greatly depending on the patient, and how much damage has been done. In Mr. Queen’s case, since there doesn’t appear to be any serious damage shown on his scans, I feel confident in saying that this is a temporary situation and he will be able to make a complete recovery without any permanent damage. Best case scenario, he is back to normal within a week’s time – worst case scenario, it might take him a month. At any rate, his vitals are excellent, and we should be able to discharge him sometime later today. He will, of course, need to be monitored closely by someone he trusts…at least until he is back to normal.” Dr. Lawton gave her a caring smile. "He seems to trust **you** a great deal."

Felicity had listened intently to the doctor’s prognosis, but somehow managed to miss the implication he threw out at the end. She stood there and slowly nodded before mumbling to him, “Yeah…we’ll…figure something out. Thank you, doctor.” He shook her hand before turning to walk away from her, down the hall, his billowing white coat flapping in the wake behind him. She watched his outline grow smaller and smaller as he walked away, before he turned to disappear around a corner. She continued to stare in the direction he had gone, while her mind kept telling herself that this could not possibly be happening. _Oliver thinks i'm his girlfriend. I have to pretend to be Oliver’s girlfriend. How on EARTH am I even supposed to do that…and for how long? The doctor said it could be a week…or a month. A MONTH!_ Her mind was beginning to consider all the complications that could arise from the bizarre situation, when a sense of panic seized her entire body and she stiffened with a sharp inhale. _What if he never fully recovers?_ Still in a state of shock and without thinking, she pulled out her phone and sent Digg an urgent message.

Felicity: HELP!

Digg: what’s wrong?

Felicity: Oliver thinks I’m his girlfriend.

Digg: WHAT?

Felicity: it gets worse…the doctor says I have to "go along" with it

Digg: I’ll be there in 20


	15. A Call for Backup

Felicity silently entered Oliver’s room, being careful not to wake him, but as soon as she was seated back into her chair, he stirred, and his eyes fluttered open, and he was looking at her with those soft blue eyes. “Hey.” There was so much affection in the way he said that one word, but Felicity tried to ignore how it made her feel, and simply answered him. “Hey yourself. Did you have a nice nap?” She smiled and watched his face morph into an expression of complete happiness; it was something she wasn’t used to seeing. “I did. I was dreaming about you.” Her eyes widened in surprise and her throat suddenly went dry, a warmth rapidly spreading throughout her face. “Oh? That’s nice…I’m glad you were able to – get some rest.” He chuckled softly, and looked at her with a slightly amused expression. “Fe-li-ci-ty. You’re blushing.” She cleared her throat and quickly looked away, trying to act natural, which in these circumstances never seemed to work for her. “Am I? You know what? I think it’s probably…just…maybe a little warm in here…and when I get too warm, sometimes my face gets a little pink. Don’t you think it’s warm in here? If I can find the thermostat, maybe I can check it to see what they have it set on…and – um – maybe adjust it…you know, turn it down…if you want.”

She stood up and walked across the room, frantically searching for a thermostat, hoping to shift the focus away from her, but it was unsuccessful. “You’re so adorable when you do that.” She spun around and looked at him. “When I do what?” He flashed her a huge grin that revealed his beautiful white teeth before answering, “when you get flustered and start rambling like you just did.” Trying to recover any sense of dignity that she might have had before he called her out, she replied rather pointedly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I simply noticed that it was a little warm in here and wanted to check the thermostat– that’s all.” She reached for the tablet that was lying in the other chair beside his bed, and strode back to her seat before sitting down. “ **I’m** going to sit here quietly and try to catch up on some reading. I suggest **you** try to rest some more if you want to get out of here sometime today.” He decided to let her think that she had won, and responded with a sarcastic, “Yes ma’am” before closing his eyes, a smile still on his face. _Yep. She’s absolutely adorable. What did you ever do to deserve her?_

About fifteen minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door, and Felicity jumped slightly in her chair, putting her tablet aside. Digg quietly cracked the door open, poked his head in, and beckoned her with his index finger. As she rose from the chair, Oliver’s eyes suddenly opened wide, and he grabbed her wrist, halting her movement. “Hey. Where are you going?” She was genuinely startled because for the past ten minutes she was convinced he had been asleep. “I’m-I’m just going to talk to Digg for a minute...and…get some coffee.” For a moment, he looked disappointed, almost like he was pouting, but then recovered and said with a smirk and a whisper, “Alright. But don’t be gone too long. If you keep going outside to talk to Digg, I might start to get jealous.” He winked at her, and her stomach flopped hard at the way he was staring at her with such affection. _Oh God. I seriously don’t know how much more of this I can take!_ She inhaled a deep breath and quickly blurted out, “be right back!” as she scurried toward the door, and slipped outside the room.

Once in the hallway, she regained her composure and gave Digg an apologetic look. “Digg, I’m so sorry to make you come right back – I know you need to sleep…but I just panicked and –” He stopped her. “It’s fine, Felicity. Just tell me what’s going on.” She glanced around the hallway and motioned for him to follow her as she started walking. “This way.” They walked down the hall to the break room, where Felicity silently fixed two cups of coffee and sat down at an empty round table. Digg sat down as well, and noticed she was staring into her cup as though all the answers to life’s questions were hidden beneath the dark liquid’s surface. “So…” he began gently, “what did you mean about Oliver thinking you are his girlfriend?” She let out a long sigh and looked up to meet his eyes. “Apparently, his head injury has caused him to be…a little…confused – and for some **unknown** reason…he’s under the impression that the two of us are…dating...oh - and that we now live together. Crazy right? Tell me that's crazy.” Digg smiled to himself because he had a pretty good idea why Oliver might see Felicity that way, but decided it was best to avoid that conversation altogether. Instead, he questioned, “so…why can’t we just tell him the truth?” Felicity snorted like she had in the hallway earlier. “Because we are really characters in some cheesy soap opera?" Digg chuckled and Felicity smiled. "Thank you! Dr. Lawton didn't think it was funny. Anyway, he seems to believe that any contradiction to Oliver’s grasp of reality might actually hinder his recovery…or something like that. Anyway, he was **very** adamant that we go along with the whole charade.” Digg sat there quietly for a moment before taking a sip of coffee and asking in the voice that he usually reserved for discussing and planning missions, “okay, so what do we do then?”

She shook her head and looked back down at her coffee. “I honestly don’t know, Digg. The doctor said he **should** make a complete recovery – that it could take as little as a week, or as long as a month. He is probably going to be discharged sometime today, and we’re supposed to keep an eye on him. I…I don’t know how to be Oliver’s…pretend girlfriend.” She blinked, and a tear silently ran down her cheek as she whispered the fear that was starting to consume her. “What if he doesn’t get better, Digg? What if he never recovers?” It was hard enough for her to justify lying to Oliver, even though it was for his own good, but somehow she couldn't get over the fact that they were intentionally deceiving him and it felt wrong. As she started to sniffle, Digg reached over and placed his hand on top of hers in a reassuring gesture.

It hurt him to see her so upset, and he immediately recognized that she needed someone to comfort her – she needed her ‘big brother Digg’ to let her know that everything would be okay. “Felicity, I know this is hard, but we’ve been through hard times before.” She kept her head down, so he said with a little more firmness in his tone, “Hey, look at me. We **will** get through this – **together** – just like we always do. And before you know it, Oliver will be back to his normal broody self and we’ll all be looking back and laughing at this whole ridiculous situation.” Digg gave her a mischievous glance before adding, "just pretend like you're on an undercover assignment...as Oliver Queen's girlfriend...how hard can it be?" She scoffed at him. "Oh yeah? Why don't **you** try it then?" He grinned back at her and quickly responded, "something tells me you're more equipped for this mission."  She smiled and nodded at him, wiping the wetness away from her eyes before it had a chance to form into more tears. He stood up and held out his hand for her to join him. “Now why don’t we go check on ‘Captain Dazed and Confused’ before he sends out a search party?” She laughed, and with coffee in hand, wrapped her other arm around his waist and slowly walked back to Oliver’s room, unsure of what to expect when they entered.


	16. A New Sleeping Arrangement

Digg knocked on the door before promptly opening it, with Felicity following closely behind him. Oliver was sitting up and had been watching whatever was on TV before they came in, but he swiftly muted the volume and turned toward the door, smiling as they entered, genuinely happy to see them. “Hey guys. I was just wondering what was taking you two so long...” Digg was quick to explain. “Yeah, Felicity was just filling me in on what the doctor said. It looks like you are going to get out of here later today, but he wanted to make sure that you had someone to keep an eye on you for the next few days.” Oliver smiled and met Felicity’s eyes with one of those charming winks that made her heart skip a beat. “Well, it’s a good thing I have Felicity then. I’m sure my girl will take care of me.”

Digg’s eyebrow shot up and he turned to look at Felicity, trying to gauge her response and give her one last opportunity to back out if she wanted. At her slight nod, he announced, “O-kay. I guess it’s settled. Since you are already staying at Felicity’s place anyway…she’ll make sure you take it easy until you get the all clear from Dr. Lawton.” He looked at Felicity again and tried to read her body language before turning back to address Oliver. “I’m going to go home and get some sleep. Then I’ll run by your place and pick up some fresh clothes and other things you might need.” He looked down at his watch. “It shouldn’t take me more than a few hours to rest up.” Digg gave Oliver a knowing smirk before adding, “Let me know if they decide to kick you out before the sun goes down.” He gave Felicity’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, ignored her puzzled expression, and then headed out the door.

There was a brief silence following Digg’s departure, and Felicity could feel Oliver staring at her, so she turned to face him, trying to smile without showing how nervous she was. “So…you’re going to be crashing at my place for the next few days…I mean of course – you already do…crash – I mean – **live** there…with me…now.” Oliver could sense her uneasiness, but didn’t understand why she seemed nervous. A sudden pang of doubt hit him square in the chest, and he gave voice to his fear. “Hey. Are you not okay with us living together?” It hurt her to see the pained look on his face; there was also a hint of dejection mixed into his expression, and it reminded her of the way he looked the other day when she left to go to lunch with Charlie. Oliver must have mistaken her silence as confirmation, because he let out a sad sigh before saying, “Felicity, I know I just moved in not too long ago, but if you’re having second thoughts, you can tell me. I’m sure I could probably stay with Digg for a while.” Felicity smiled and covered his hand with hers in an effort to reassure him. “No. I promise it’s fine, Oliver. It’s just that…our relationship…is still –”

It was at that moment when she realized that she had no idea how to finish that sentence because she didn’t know anything about their relationship – at least not the one Oliver thought they had. She was still searching for a direction, when Oliver interjected, and she was immediately grateful for the provided insight into his altered sense of reality. “New. I know…Maybe I’ve been pushing things too fast.” He looked down and spoke in a quieter tone. “If you want us to slow down, just say so. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” He sounded so unsure of himself, and she immediately felt the need to ease his uncertainty. “It’s okay, Oliver. I’m – just still trying to get used to the whole idea of us sleeping together…” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I mean NOT – **sleeping** together as in sex – because that has **not** happened. I just meant – sleeping in the same place – sharing a living space...together – you know…because you just moved in. It’s still a little surreal to me, to be honest.”

Felicity quickly looked away as her cheeks started to turn a furious shade of pink; she was beginning to wonder if they would be permanently stained that color. Oliver didn’t miss the way she blushed over mentioning them sleeping together, and he gave her hand a light squeeze before bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss. “Don’t worry. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.” He winked at her and she felt like her heart was beating so loudly he would surely hear it. She sucked in a deep breath and just smiled back at him. “I know you will.”

 _It’s still a little surreal to me._ It was the truth; she **was** still trying to wrap her head around the idea of sharing such close quarters with Oliver for the next few – _God only knows how long._ Although Felicity knew it wasn’t exactly the world’s best kept secret that she had less than platonic feelings for Oliver, she would never have imagined those feelings could be reciprocated. Sure, there were subtle hints here, and tiny moments there that sparked a small ray of hope that maybe he cared for her as more than just a friend, but her mind would always crush those thoughts before she had time to entertain them as a possibility. Oliver was her boss, and she was his Executive Assistant; he was The Arrow, and she was the IT support. _**Those** are the facts. **That** is reality.  _

There was a soft knock on the door before it swung open and one of the nurses Felicity had seen from the nurse’s station stepped inside. She was an attractive middle-aged woman, and the soft pastel color of her scrubs complemented her tanned complexion. When she walked toward the bed, her long curly brown ponytail bounced up and down with every step. With a bright, friendly smile, she introduced herself. “Mr. Queen? Ms. Smoak? My name’s Janice. My shift just started, but it looks like I won’t have a chance to get to know you very well seeing as you’ll be going home today.” She glanced at her clipboard with before adding, “Dr. Lawton has just signed off on your release, so as soon as we get finished with all the paperwork and take your IV out, you’re free to go.” She walked over to the other side of the bed and glanced up at the IV pole, squinting her eyes at the deflated plastic bags. “Speaking of your IV…it looks like you are about done. There isn’t anything left in the reservoir, so it won’t be much…”

As if on cue, the IV machine started beeping, notifying her that there was air in the line. “Well, like I said…looks like your fluids are finished. I’ll go ahead and take the IV out of your arm if that’s okay.” Janice deftly worked to close off the tubing and detach it from the IV before turning to the tape on Oliver’s arm. Felicity started to move out of her way, but Janice stopped her by placing a gentle hand on her knee. “Oh, no. You’re fine there, honey. Believe me, I’ve worked in much tighter places.” She then turned her attention back to Oliver. “Mr. Queen, I’m afraid this next part might not be very pleasant.” He looked at her in surprise, but before he could form a question, she answered him. “The tape. Taking it off is the worst part if you ask me. Now I can go slow, or I can rip it off, but because of all the hair on your arm…either way, it’s probably going to hurt.”

Felicity managed to stifle a snicker at the nurse’s genuine concern over hurting Oliver. She thought about the hilarity of the whole situation and had to bite down on her lip and avoid looking at him. Unbeknownst to Janice, here laid a man who had been stabbed, shot, electrocuted, and beaten almost to death more times than he could count, and she was worried about hurting him by pulling a few arm hairs. More than likely, Oliver was thinking the same thing. He looked Janice straight in the eye and gave her a reassuring smile. “Just rip it off. I’m sure I’ll be okay.” Janice did as instructed, and was mildly impressed that despite the patch of hair that was now stuck to the tape in her hand, its removal hadn’t elicited so much as a grunt from Oliver. She turned to give Felicity a grin and a wink. “Tough guy you’ve got here.” Felicity smiled back at her. “Thank you. He is pretty tough.” She glanced over at Oliver to see him looking at her with a sense of pride in his eyes – as though she had just paid him the biggest compliment in the world. Janice left after promising to return with Oliver’s release papers.


	17. An Eternity of Waiting

Apparently, finalizing release papers was an extremely complicated task, or it would seem so judging by how long it was taking Janice to come back with them. Mid-morning had slowly become mid-day, which was signaled with the arrival of a tray with some questionable contents. The orderly proudly removed the cover and smiled before leaving Oliver to ‘enjoy’ his lunch. He looked at Felicity with mock horror before pushing the tray a few inches away from him with a disgusted grunt. Felicity laughed and teased him. “Oh come on – it can’t **all** be that bad. Surely there’s **something** on that tray that you can eat.” He raised an eyebrow and motioned with his hand, challenging her to examine the meal closer. She peered at what she could only guess was supposed to be some sort of pot roast. Something about the color of the meat was a little off, and once her nose caught a whiff of it, she backed away sharply. Whatever was occupying the small bowl to the side didn’t look any better. “Well…aren’t you at least supposed to have some Jell-O or something? I thought hospitals always served Jell-O.” They both laughed and Felicity moved the offending tray as far away from the bed as possible.

Felicity felt the afternoon drag on as they continued to wait for Oliver’s release papers to arrive; she silently worked on her tablet while Oliver fell in and out of sleep. Felicity looked down at her watch and noted that it was already after 4:30. She went back to her tablet and tried to distract herself by playing Candy Crush. Six levels later, Digg popped his head in the door. “Looks like I made it back just in time – you’re about to be evicted.” The door opened, and he was followed by Janice, who was carrying the promised release papers. She handed them to Felicity, along with a pen to sign. Just to make sure they were clear about Dr. Lawton’s instructions, Janice reiterated what she felt was worth mentioning again. “Mr. Queen, you remember to take it easy for the next couple of days, okay? Nothing too physically strenuous or mentally taxing. The fastest way to a full recovery is to get plenty of rest.” She waited for him to show his intention to oblige before turning to Felicity. “And you just make sure he does, okay? I know how these tough guys are.” With that remark, she gave Digg an appreciative glance, not even the slightest bit shy about letting her eyes roam over his body, lingering on his arm muscles and strong chest before leaving. Felicity could have sworn she heard her mutter the word ‘yummy’ underneath her breath as she exited the room.

The door shut and Digg looked back and forth between Oliver and Felicity with stunned amusement. “Did she just? Did I hear her say–” At this point Felicity couldn’t hold her laughter. “Yes. And Yes. Apparently, Janice knows a ‘tough guy’ when she sees one.” Oliver grinned and joined in on the fun. “Yeah, Digg…if you want me to stay a little longer, Felicity could take her time signing those papers. I’m sure Janice wouldn’t mind.” Digg held his hands up to silence them in a playful manner. “Okay you guys. Very funny. The last thing I need right now is to explain – whatever **that** was – to Lyla…who by the way, has already messaged me several times asking when I’m going to be home again. Well, one message was asking what time I would be home. The other one was asking what I’m bringing for dinner. Speaking of going home, Oliver – I picked up a few things for you.”

Digg held up the charcoal gray duffel bag and set it down in one of the empty chairs. “In fact, I made sure to put a change of clothes on top so you will have something comfortable to wear on the ride over to Felicity’s place…that is unless you’ve taken a liking to that hospital gown. They could probably be persuaded to let you keep it. Want me to ask?” Oliver rolled his eyes at his friend, hoping to wipe the smirk off his face, but was unsuccessful. Digg placed a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “You take it easy, man.” He then went to give Felicity a hug and whispered in her ear. “Call or text me if you need anything.” Felicity nodded, and Digg was out the door, leaving the room surprisingly quiet.

“Okay.” Felicity decided to break the awkward silence. “Um, I’ll just get your clothes out for you and then I can…step outside or…wait in the bathroom until you are changed.” Oliver chuckled softly. “It’s okay, Felicity. I’m pretty sure that I have boxers on underneath this…” He paused and almost had to force the last word out of his mouth through clenched teeth. “Gown.” She let out an uneasy breath and moved toward his duffel bag, carefully unzipping it and pulling out the sweatpants and t-shirt Digg brought for Oliver to wear. She placed the clothes on the corner of the bed and spun around to give him some privacy. Oliver slowly stood from the bed, and quickly realized that he was weaker than he thought. His head started spinning, and he placed a hand back down on the bed to stabilize himself. “Um…Felicity?” She heard him let out a nervous laugh before continuing. “I might actually need you to help me…if you don’t mind.”

Felicity swallowed and turned around slowly, biting down on her lips that were now pulled inside of her mouth. “Yeah…sure. What…do you need me to do?” When she saw his face, it was clear that something wasn’t right. “Oliver are you okay? Do I need to go get a nurse or something?” She rushed to his side, placed a supporting arm around his waist, and guided him back toward the bed. He sat down slowly and took a few deep breaths. “No. I’m okay now. I think I just – stood up to quickly before. I was feeling really dizzy…it’s gone now.” She eyed him skeptically, searching for any hint of deceit. Like Janice said, he was a tough guy, and Felicity knew all too well that he had a tendency to dismiss when he wasn’t feeling well.

She took a measured step closer to him, coming to stand right in between his legs with her hands resting on his shoulders. Her eyes glanced down for a second, just long enough to notice his very naked thighs. She met his gaze and said with an air of determination. “Right. Well, how about this? You sit there…and I will help you get dressed. Let’s start with taking off this–” She started to say ‘gown’, but quickly adapted her sentence. “I’ll just undo the ties in the back for you.” As she leaned forward to reach behind him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head against her chest, letting out a relived sigh that caused his body to slump forward into hers. She barely heard the words that were whispered against her shirt. “Thank you.” She could feel the material flutter against his every breath, and her heart started to speed up at their closeness.

Knowing he could probably feel her rapid heartbeat since his head was now resting comfortably against her chest, she tried to take calming breaths as she gently pulled the fabric ties, allowing the gown to fall from his shoulders, revealing his muscular back. _Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh._ She took another deliberate breath and tried to steady her resolve. _RELAX! It’s just Oliver…Oliver’s naked back. It’s not like you haven’t seen it before. Get a grip!_ He released her as she took a small step back to pull the material away from him completely. “There. Okay…what’s next? Do you want your t-shirt, or sweatpants?” She couldn’t make eye contact with him as he answered, “pants.” Felicity unconsciously licked her lips as she picked up the pair of dark gray sweatpants and unfolded them. “I think you should just…stay sitting until we get to the part where we have to pull them up, okay?” He nodded in agreement.

Felicity got on her knees so that she could slip his feet into the pants legs. She quickly pulled the material up just over his knees and stopped. “Okay…that’s as far as I go. Do you need help standing, or are you good now?” Oliver took a slow breath and rose from the bed with one hand holding onto his sweatpants, the other on Felicity’s shoulder for support. In no time, his pants rested comfortably just above his hip bones. He stood still for a moment before trying to reach for the black t-shirt. Felicity jumped up, swiped it off the bed, and handed it to him, afraid that he would lose his balance and fall. She watched as he placed his arms through their holes, followed by his head popping through the top. She allowed herself a lingering glance at his chest before it was shrouded in the dark material. She knelt down again to help him put on his socks and shoes before standing up triumphantly. “Okay. Yay! We did it!...Now, I’ll just go tell them we’re ready so we can get out of here and I can take you home…I mean, so you can go home with me…so we can go home together. Ugh, I give up. You know what I mean. Let’s just go home!”


	18. A First Time for Everything

The drive to Felicity’s apartment was quiet. Every now and then, she would glance over at Oliver and try to figure out if he was sleeping. Although his eyes were closed, she knew better than to believe that meant he wasn’t wide awake. It was only a little after five o’clock when they left the hospital, but she knew his body was probably exhausted.  As she drove, her mind was racing with thoughts. _Okay. We’ll just go home, maybe order something to eat, and then go to bed. Well, I’ll go to bed, and he’ll go to **couch**. _ She felt a pang of guilt at the thought of making him sleep on her couch after the ordeal he had been through. _Okay, fine. **He** can sleep in my bed and **I’ll** take the couch. Whatever. Oh my gosh, what if he thinks we normally sleep in the same bed?! Have we even **kissed** yet? I mean, I know we haven’t, but does he **think** we have? Ugh. How do I find that out without sounding like **I’m** the one with brain problems?_ Before she could ponder anything else, she was already parking the car. _Wow, I seriously don’t even remember how I got here. That’s scary. I really need to pay better attention while I’m driving instead of letting my mind wander._

Since leaving the hospital, Oliver had seemed to regain more of his stability, and despite Felicity’s insistence on carrying his bag for him, he lifted it up out of her reach and headed for the steps to the lobby. She let out an exasperated huff and started walking behind him, when it dawned on her that, to her knowledge, Oliver had only been inside her apartment once. _He was here last night…but he thinks he’s been here living with me. This should be interesting. Is it going to contradict his ‘reality’ if he doesn’t know where anything is inside the apartment? Hmm. I guess we’re about to find out._

She followed him into the elevator and watched as he pressed the button for the 4th floor; a smirk danced across her lips. _Strike one!_ “Um, Oliver…my apartment is on the 5th floor…remember?” He looked confused for a brief moment before shrugging it off, and pressing the button for the 5th floor. “Huh – I guess I just forgot.” To save him from any further embarrassment, she led the way as soon as the elevator door opened. She quickly reached the door to her apartment and unlocked it, however, before she could step foot inside to turn on the light switch, Oliver’s hand was on her shoulder, bringing her to a halt. He stepped in front of her and flipped the light switch, quickly scanning the entirety of the room, before cautiously moving through each room in the same ninja stealth-like manner.

Felicity resisted the urge to roll her eyes when she heard him confidently announce that the apartment was clear. _Wonderful. It’s like living with Bruce Lee. I just hope we don’t have to go through this routine every time we enter the apartment_. “Thank you, Oliver. Let’s find a place for your stuff and –” She stopped midsentence when she saw that he had already placed his bag on the floor beside her bed, next to the window; her mouth hung open slightly. _O-kay…I guess that answers **that** question then. _ He re-emerged from her bedroom door and started approaching her at a steady pace with an almost predatory look on his face. She spun around and started heading for the kitchen, trying to think of a diversion as her pace quickened with each step. She saw the refrigerator. _Bingo –_ _Take-out menus!_ “Hey Oliver, are you hungry at all? I was thinking we could order some –”

She squeaked in surprise when his arms reached around from behind her and his mouth was at her ear, whispering her name. “Fe-li-ci-ty. Were you trying to run away from me just then?” She fidgeted with the menus and then held them up in front of her face, fanned out like a bunch of oversized playing cards. “Menus. I just came to get the menus – thought we might order some take-out. I know you have to be hungry since you didn’t eat lunch.” She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he said, “That sounds good. The food in the hospital was – well, I’m not even sure it really was food.” He started to place soft kisses on her bare shoulder before moving his way up the side of her neck, eventually finding his way to her right earlobe; the touch of his lips left an intense tingling sensation on her skin. She instinctively twisted away from his grasp and blurted out, “ **bathroom!** …I have to **pee**! You pick whatever kind of food you want…and I will be…back in a minute.” She ran to the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind her. _And… **that** answers the other question._

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting in the bathroom. The cool washcloth helped ease her burning face, but her mind was again tortured with panicked thoughts. _I can’t do this. I just can’t do this. It isn’t right. I can’t pretend to be dating Oliver. It isn’t fair to him, and it isn’t fair to me…well, I wouldn’t mind actually, but not like this…not when he is living in some altered state of reality. He isn’t in his right mind. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. It isn’t real. This isn’t really him._ A small sob escaped her lips as she went back to reconsider her biggest fear. _What if he doesn’t get better? What if he never fully recovers?_ A soft knock on her bathroom door alerted her to Oliver’s presence before she heard his concerned voice.

“Felicity? Are you okay?...You’ve been in there a long time.” She grabbed a tissue and wiped the tears from her face before she unlocked and opened the door. He immediately noticed the slightly red puffiness around her eyes and knew she had been crying. “Hey,” His voice was incredibly soft, like the tone you would use to comfort a baby or a frightened animal. “What’s wrong?” She forced a smile, and in her most convincing voice answered him. “I’m just…glad you’re okay.” He reached out and placed his hands lightly on the back of her arms, and pulled her into a gentle embrace, folding her body into his chest. He bent down to place a kiss on top of her soft blond curls. “I’m okay now,” he whispered. “Please don’t cry.” She let out a slight shudder and allowed her arms to wrap around his middle, accepting his hug and the comfort it offered.

She let him hold her for a while longer before snapping back to her normal cheerful self. “So…dinner. What did you pick?” He smiled at her and said, “You know, I could really go for a burger from Big Belly.” She barely concealed a grimace before admitting, “I actually just had Big Belly the other day...” His eyebrow quirked at her statement. “Really? When?” Not wanting to bring up her lunch with Charlie, she deflected. “Hey, if you want Big Belly, we can do that. You know I’m always up for a burger!” He looked confused and slowly shook his head.

“No, that’s okay. We can get something else. How does Thai sound?” Although she had eaten her way through almost half of Tasty Panda House’s menu last night, there was no way she was going to remind him of her drunken noodle fest. Instead, she pasted on a smile and turned toward the kitchen. “Thai sounds great! I’ll get the menu.” After placing a very substantial order to Thai Noodle Palace, she hung up and faced Oliver. “So…do you wanna watch something on TV while we wait for our food? We might be able to at least start something. I know you’re probably tired, so we don’t have to watch an entire movie. Remember Janice said it’s important for you to get plenty of rest…” He smiled and chuckled at her nervous ramble. “We can watch something. I’m not that tired.”

They made their way into the living room and stood in front of her DVD collection. “I also have Netflix, if you want to watch something on there. Just let me know what you feel like watching.” He furrowed his brow and started to frown at the overwhelming collection. “Why don’t you just pick something out that you want to watch?” She tilted her head at him. “Are you saying that there isn’t anything in my extensive DVD collection that you haven’t seen yet?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “No. Just the opposite. I don’t think I have seen **any** of these movies. I don’t even know where to start.” Felicity let out a strangled cry from her throat. “Please tell me that’s a joke…a horrible, **horrible** joke.” His expression didn’t change, so she knew he wasn’t kidding. “Oh, Oliver. I don’t think you understand how much this hurts me…” She thumped a fisted hand over her heart before saying, “here.” Her attention then turned back to the wall of DVDs. “Let’s see. You would probably enjoy some type of action movie...” She bit her lip, scanning over the titles, before a smirk erupted from her face.

“Oh…I think I know **exactly** your type of movie. Just, keep in mind – it **is** a movie…so don’t be **too** critical about – you know what? I don’t know if I can start with that one though. Maybe I should make you watch them chronologically.” She seemed to mull the decision over in her mind for a few seconds. “Nah, I don’t think it will matter too much if we watch this one first. It’s pretty much my **favorite** movie anyway. Alright – we’ll start with this one, and then we can catch up on the others some other time.” Oliver could sense her excitement and was starting to look forward to whatever she had picked out too. She reached out and plucked a DVD case from the shelf and handed it to him, the sparkle of anticipation dancing in her eyes, her face covered with a grin she could no longer manage to hide. “Oliver Queen – hold on to your quiver…because The Avengers are about to rock your face off!”


	19. A Quiet Night at Home

Felicity loaded the disc into her DVD player and had turned the lights off before spinning around to find Oliver sitting in the corner of her couch with his arm casually resting across the back. He lightly patted the space next to him and beckoned her to join him. “Come here.” It wasn’t a request, but it didn’t sound like a command either. His voice was soft and gentle, the way he had been talking to her ever since she showed up at the hospital that morning. There was something so caring, almost loving, about the tone he was using. She found herself drawn to that voice, slowly walking toward him with the remote in hand, and lowering herself onto the couch beside him.

As though he had done it a million times, his arm slipped down from the back of the couch to rest on her shoulder, pulling her gently into his side. She sat there in stunned silence as the DVD menu cycled through several times. Oliver leaned over and whispered into her ear, “You know, I heard that this was a great movie…do you think maybe we could watch it?” He chuckled as she snapped out of her mental fog. “Yeah, of course. Let me just…um…get it started…” She hit play and tried to focus on the movie that was now showing the opening scene, but all she could think about was Oliver’s arm that was still around her shoulder, and his masculine scent that was making her head swim.

About twenty minutes into ‘The Avengers’, there was a knock on the door. Felicity jumped and quickly clicked pause on the remote before starting to get up from the couch. Oliver placed his hand on her thigh to stop her from getting up, and instead made his way to the door. After confirming through the peephole that it was in fact the delivery boy from Thai Noodle Palace, he flipped the kitchen light on and opened the door. Oliver frowned when he realized that his wallet was not in his sweatpants, and was about to go looking for it when Felicity showed up behind him with some cash. She thanked the boy, and told him to keep the change. Oliver was still frowning when Felicity shut the door behind the delivery boy. “You should have let me pay for dinner.” She gave him a pat on the arm. “That’s okay – you can get it next time. Anyway, are you ready to eat? I’m starving!”

Oliver smiled at her exclamation of hunger. She always did have a healthy appetite, although you couldn’t tell it judging by her petite frame. Felicity was rummaging through the refrigerator. “What do you want to drink? I have…orange juice, water, and…some wine…I’m probably just going to have water though.” Her mind flashed back to images of the night before. _Yeah, there is no way I am going to have any wine tonight. Nope. Not even gonna go there_. _Not a chance._ “What about you?” Oliver threw her a suspicious glance. “Do my ears deceive me, or did Felicity Smoak just pass on having some wine?” She shrugged and replied, “Thai food can be kind of heavy. I’m trying to cut back a little…you know – watch my figure.” He shook his head and smiled, giving her an approving glance. “There’s nothing wrong with your figure…it’s perfect.” She forced a grin. “Okay – Let’s eat!” _God, please kill me now because I can’t take it anymore!_

The two of them ate in comfortable silence as they watched the Avengers come together to fight against Loki. Every once in a while, she would glance over at Oliver and try to gauge whether or not he was enjoying the movie. It was hard to tell; he did laugh at most of Iron Man’s one-liners, so that was a plus. She was especially curious to see how he reacted to Hawkeye and his archery abilities; she wasn’t surprised to see him shake his head or roll his eyes whenever the archer managed a seemingly impossible shot. There was even an occasion where she heard Oliver let out a small snort during the final battle scene. She couldn’t really blame him though; as far as she was concerned, Hawkeye was her least favorite character and didn’t really add much to the film.

At some point, the effects of an emotionally draining day mixed with a belly full of Thai finally kicked in and Felicity found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. She didn’t remember shutting her eyes; she just knew that she felt safe, snuggled into Oliver’s side and before long, she was sound asleep. By the time the end credits were rolling, she was completely dead to the world, wrapped up in a warm cocoon of a peaceful sleep with her head resting comfortably against Oliver’s warm, soft t-shirt. She certainly didn’t notice that she had instinctively turned into the source of warmth, wrapping her left arm around what had to be the most comfortable body pillow she owned.

Felicity stirred slightly at the sensation of being lifted off of the couch in one big swoop. Her eyes tried to open, but the room was dark and she couldn’t adjust to see anything; her glasses were absent from her face, making it that much more difficult to distinguish anything in the darkness. She managed to momentarily break through her sleepy haze, confusion in her voice. “Oliver?” He continued to carry her as he slowly walked toward the bedroom. “Shh…The movie’s over. You fell asleep. It’s time to go to bed.” She let out a sigh, too tired to argue, and allowed him to carry her into the bedroom, where he carefully laid her down on her side of the bed next to the small wooden table with her bright orange lamp. Once he turned on the lamp, he noticed what she was wearing, and frowned before waking her up again.

“Felicity?” She responded with a soft, “hmm?” He rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. “You're still wearing your clothes...do you have some pajamas or something more comfortable you want to sleep in?” She responded with a soft, “mmm.” He looked at her as though she had just spoken a foreign language. “Okay…I seriously have no idea what that means. Was that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ because it honestly sounded like it could have gone either way.” He looked down at her again, but she was sound asleep. His eyes zeroed in on her jean shorts. _That can’t be comfortable_. He reached down and gently unfastened the button and pulled the zipper down before sliding the material off of her legs to reveal a pair of pastel pink panties with little white polka dots. He stifled a laugh, but couldn’t help but smile. _So ‘Felicity’ – so adorable._

Since the top she was wearing was made out of a really soft material, he decided to leave it on her. He carefully pulled the covers up to her chin and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, before turning off the lamp. “Goodnight, Felicity. Sweet dreams.” She made a quiet contented sound in her sleep, and Oliver smiled as he walked over to the other side of the bed. It didn’t take him long to strip down to his black boxer briefs and crawl into the empty space beside her. He turned to face her, placed his arm around her waist, and pulled her body toward him until her back was firmly pressed into his chest. His tired eyes fluttered a few times, and as his muscles slowly relaxed, he allowed the comforting smell of her hair and the sound of her quiet steady breathing lull him to sleep.

That night, Oliver didn’t dream about the island. He wasn’t haunted with memories of all the bad things that had happened to him over the last seven years. He didn’t wake up in a confused and frenzied state in the middle of the night with sweat pouring off his body, ready to attack unseen foes. Instead, he slept soundly until the soft morning light cast beams of sunshine across his face. When he did finally open his eyes, the soft golden curls that were gently tucked under his chin made him grateful for his life. He was thankful that despite the horrors of his past, he had somehow managed to find the one person who truly understood and accepted him – and that person was lying right next to him. _Oliver Queen, you are a very lucky guy._


	20. A Man-Made Breakfast

Felicity could hear indistinct noises in the background somewhere, but didn’t want to wake up from the wonderful dream she was having. If she imagined hard enough, she could almost still feel Oliver’s strong arm wrapped protectively around her waist, holding her close to his warm body and making her feel completely safe. The dream was fading and she let out a contented sigh before breathing in deeply through her nose; the faint smell of bacon and coffee hit her senses and she finally allowed her eyes to open. Still half asleep and without thinking, Felicity slowly stumbled her way out of bed and started heading toward the delicious scent of breakfast. When she reached the kitchen and saw Oliver standing over her stove in nothing but a pair of dark gray sweatpants, her eyes widened and she couldn’t help her sleep-rattled reaction. “Oliver! What are you–”

Oliver turned around to face her and smiled brightly as he brought the skillet over to the counter where a plate was waiting with two pieces of bacon. He carefully plated the food as he spoke. “Good morning. I thought I would make breakfast for us.” She stalked over to the kitchen counter and stared at the plate he had just filled, and raised an eyebrow in uncertainty. “Um…what is it?” Oliver frowned. “Well, bacon…and that’s supposed to be an ‘Egg in a Basket’. Raisa used to make it for me all the time when I was growing up…and I thought you might like it. If you don’t want to eat it, I’ll understand. It won’t hurt my feelings.” Felicity immediately lifted both eyebrows in defense. “No! No – it looks good. I’ll eat it…thank you.” As soon as she sat down on the barstool, the cold wood made contact with her bare thighs and she let out a startled *eep* before jumping up and dashing back into the bedroom, her pink and white polka dot panties a blur.

She returned a few minutes later wearing the same jean shorts she had on the day before, along with cheeks that were still slightly pink. Taking her seat at the counter without looking up, she muttered out an apology. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was walking around half naked.” Oliver just chuckled at her embarrassment. “That’s okay…I didn’t really mind. Besides, I think your pink panties are cute.” He winked at her and she almost fell off of the stool; thankfully, he had already turned back around. When he returned with a cup of coffee in his hands, his face held a slightly concerned expression. “I had a little trouble remembering how to use the coffee maker, but I finally figured it out.” Any doubt that was previously there quickly evaporated and was replaced by a smug sense of accomplishment as he set the pink ‘Geek Chic’mug down next to her plate. She couldn’t help the running commentary in her mind. _Strike two! That’s because you’ve never **used** my coffee maker before...Stop it, Smoak! You’re not being helpful._ That thought snapped her back to the current situation in a heartbeat. “Hey! I’m supposed to be taking care of **you** …remember?”

He shrugged off her comment and went back to the stove to prepare his own food. “You take care of me all the time.” He turned his head over his shoulder and glanced down at her untouched plate. “You better eat before it gets cold.” Felicity grabbed a strip of bacon and bit off a piece, chewing appreciatively. _Wow! At least he knows how to cook bacon the right way. Nice and crispy – just how I like it._ She then looked back down at her plate and wondered how to proceed from there. “Am I supposed to use a fork with this…or do I just pick it up and eat it?”

Oliver laughed and told her she could eat it however she wanted. Since there wasn’t already a fork on the counter, she unceremoniously grabbed the toast and took a very large mouthful before putting it back down. The buttery crunch of the bread took her by surprise and she couldn’t help the sounds of approval that were now coming out of her overly stuffed mouth. Oliver turned around with a huge grin on his face as he walked over and set his own plate down on the counter next to hers. “Does that mean you like it?” Her mouth was still full, so all she could do was nod vigorously in agreement as she covered her mouth with a paper napkin in an effort to regain some semblance of being a lady.

When she finally swallowed and was able to speak, she started gushing. “Wow! Oliver…that is – **really** good!” The twinkle that appeared in Oliver’s eyes was a reward in and of its own; he looked happy and content. The everyday worry she was so used to seeing evidenced in his wrinkled brow was no longer there, and she decided in that moment that happiness suited him. His face took on a fond expression when he continued speaking. “Raisa taught me how to make it a long time ago, but I haven’t tried in years and was afraid I might be out of practice –” Felicity was quick to stamp out his insecurity. “Well, let me just tell you that it looks like you haven’t lost your touch! Seriously, I could eat this every morning. You can make breakfast any time you want.” He looked a little taken aback by her praise, but thanked her for the compliment with soft appreciation. “I’m glad you like it.”

They finished eating breakfast, and Felicity got up from her stool, taking their dishes with her over to the sink. “Tell you what – since you made breakfast, I’ll wash the dishes. How does that sound?” Oliver stood up and walked over to stand next to her. “I don’t mind helping.” Felicity was a little flustered, but recovered swiftly with a compromise. “Okay. How about I wash, and you dry then?” He nodded in agreement and she reached into a drawer, producing a bright teal dry cloth, which she promptly handed to him. _Holy crap! Oliver Queen is standing in my kitchen and is about to help me wash dishes…after he made me breakfast. How many girls can say that? On second thought – nevermind._

It didn’t take long to fill up her dishpan with hot soapy water, and the two of them settled into a comfortable routine of wash, rinse, and dry. Felicity felt a sense of tranquility come over her as she methodically ran her cloth over the dishes before rinsing away any evidence of them ever being soiled. _If only it was this easy…I wish I could wash away all of his pain and sadness…and guilt. Then he could be happy. After all he’s been through, he deserves to be happy_. A fluttering sensation went through her stomach as she thought about the sudden change in his demeanor since the accident. _Huh_ – t _hat’s the weird thing…he **does** seem to be happy now._ Oliver glanced down at Felicity and noticed that she had a far off look in her eyes. He gently nudged her arm with his elbow. “You’re awfully quiet. That usually means you’re thinking about something. Care to share?”

Felicity knew she was asking for trouble, but part of her desperately needed verbal confirmation. “Oliver, are you happy?” He frowned in confusion at her question, but when he spoke, it was with steady confidence. “Of course I am. You **are** my happiness, Felicity.” Her heart leapt unexpectedly at the meaning behind his words, and although her mind screamed that it wasn’t real, something in his voice, coupled with the intense look on his face, told her that it was the truth. Despite her prior reservations about this whole façade being wrong, she somehow couldn’t find it in her to care anymore. Be it by accident or fate, she had an opportunity to make Oliver happy and she was determined to let him experience as much joy as possible, even if it was only temporary.


	21. A Stroll Through the Park

Oliver and Felicity had just finished with the dishes from breakfast, when Felicity looked down and noticed her shirt was soaked in several places from leaning over the sink. “Oh well, I probably need to go get cleaned up anyway. Do you want to take a shower?” Oliver’s eyebrow shot up in surprise and he grinned at her. “Is that an invitation?” Felicity realized the suggestiveness of her phrasing and struggled to explain. “Oh God no! I wasn’t – I mean, I was just asking if you wanted to take a shower…not with me, but by yourself because I only have one bathroom. I’m going to take one, but you can go first if you want.” Oliver chuckled. “That's okay. You can take yours first.”

Felicity dashed off to her room and called back over her shoulder to him before shutting her bedroom door. “I’ll be done in about fifteen minutes.” As promised, Felicity had showered, dressed, and vacated the bathroom within fifteen minutes. Oliver did the same, and when he emerged from the bedroom, he found Felicity sitting on the couch with her tablet in hand. She was wearing a lightweight cotton red sundress with spaghetti straps that showed off her smooth shoulders. When she finished typing something on her tablet, she looked up at him and smiled. “Feel better?” He walked over and sat down next to her. “I always feel better after a shower. Thanks for leaving me some hot water.”

Felicity set her tablet aside and turned to face him. “No problem. So…what do you feel like doing today? Before you answer that, keep in mind that you are supposed to be taking it easy – Doctor’s orders.” Oliver argued back with just a hint of stubbornness in his voice. “Felicity, I feel fine…but I would like to get out of this apartment – even if it’s just for a little while.” She seemed to consider his request for a moment before responding. “Hmm…okay. Do you have any suggestions?” It didn’t take long for him to come up with one, which led Felicity to the conclusion that he had already been thinking about it before she asked. “There’s a park not too far from here; I wouldn’t mind going for a walk since it’s such a nice day outside.”

Felicity couldn’t find any logical reason to say no. “I think that sounds like a great idea. Some fresh air and a little exercise will be good for both of us. Let me go grab my sunhat and sandals and I’ll be ready to go.” She bounded from the couch and disappeared into her room, only to return wearing a large brimmed floppy hat with a wide band of red fabric tied around it, and a pair of red strapped sandals. Oliver took in her appearance, from the short red sundress, to the floppy hat and matching sandals; she was in essence, a visual representation of a bright summer day and it warmed his heart much like the sun once it peeks out from behind a cloud. Felicity grabbed her purse and headed toward the door before realizing Oliver was still sitting on the couch staring at the spot where she had been standing. “I thought you wanted to get out of the apartment. Are you coming?” Oliver quickly rose from the couch and cleared his throat. “Uh…yeah.” He swiped his wallet from the coffee table and stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans. “Let’s go.”

It took them about twenty minutes to reach the park; neither one of them was in a hurry, so they settled on a casual walking pace. The sun was out in full force, but there were plenty of trees spread among the vast expanse of grass, ready to offer their shade, along with the occasional breeze that provided some relief from the dry heat. There was a paved walkway that surrounded the entirety of the lawn in an enormous seemingly endless loop; little wooden benches were placed about every thirty yards or so. There were carefully manicured flowerbeds full of bright colorful variations arranged around each tree, and shrubs lining the outside edge of the park.  Over on one side, there was a small duck pond that had a few benches scattered around it for people to sit and watch or feed the birds.

After casually walking around the paved trail for about half an hour, Oliver and Felicity spied a bench that was somewhat shaded by a large oak tree, and situated at the base of a large hill. They sat down and took in their new surroundings. It was a beautiful day, and since it was summertime, the air was filled with the sound of children laughing and playing. Some were running around chasing each other, while older kids played Frisbee or threw a football back and forth. Every few minutes, someone would pass by their bench; the park seemed to be a popular place for runners, joggers, and dog walkers.

Oliver reached over and grabbed Felicity’s hand. After gently intertwining their fingers and taking a deep breath, he sighed. “This is nice, isn’t it?” Without thinking, Felicity responded. “The park, or my hand?” Oliver chuckled. “Well, both…but I was talking about the park. Everybody here is so relaxed and enjoying themselves. With all the criminals that we deal with, sometimes it’s easy to forget that not everyone in this city is corrupt; there are so many good people worth fighting for, and it’s nice to be reminded of that.” Felicity nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean.”

They sat in silence for a long time, both lost in their own thoughts as they listened to the sounds of nature and happy families blend together and drift through the air like a tranquil symphony. The spell was suddenly broken as a flash of red rolled down the grassy hill in front of them and stopped just short of their bench. A few seconds later, a little blond-headed boy came running down the hill in search of his ball. Oliver released Felicity’s hand, reached down to grab the ball, and held it out it to the child. “Here you go.” The boy’s face lit up with a grin as he retrieved it from Oliver’s hand; he thanked him and ran back up the hill and out of sight.

Felicity looked up at Oliver with an affectionate smile. “Cute kid, huh?” Oliver smiled back at her. “Yeah. He was. Do you think you would ever want to have kids someday?” Felicity felt the color drain from her face, so she looked down and started fidgeting with the hem of her dress. “Um…to be honest, I haven’t really given it much thought.” In an effort to shift the attention from herself, she countered with the same question. “What about you – do you want to have a family someday?” Oliver turned away from her to stare out into the distance, and spoke in a hushed solemn tone. “Before the island…that was the last thing I wanted. The thought of settling down and raising a family was…terrifying. It’s part of the reason why I got on The Gambit in the first place.”

He paused before continuing. “After I came back, I was so set on accomplishing my mission that it was the last thing on my mind. Even if it was something I wanted, the danger and risks associated with being the Arrow kept me from considering it as a possibility.” Felicity could feel the serious nature of the conversation start to weigh down on her, and she braced herself before asking the next question. “What about now?” Oliver turned back to face her, gently took her hand, and placed it on his thigh before covering it with his own. “Now things are different. Starling is a lot more stable, and has been for a while. With everything that’s happened over the last couple of years, it certainly puts things into perspective. I look at Digg and Lyla expecting their first child, and sometimes I can’t help but be a little jealous because deep down, I want that too.”

Felicity cleared her throat nervously. “Yeah. He’s – I’m happy for him.” She was desperate to change the subject. “Oh, and speaking of Digg – he was asking about you earlier, so I invited him to come over for dinner tonight. We can just order pizza or something…or we could go out if you feel like it – whatever you want to do is fine.” She stood from the bench and Oliver noticed she was wringing her hands together; it was something she often did when she was nervous. His heart sank as he realized what had probably caused her anxiousness, and he instinctively reached out for her hand. “Felicity, I didn’t mean for this conversation to get so serious. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable by talking about having kids. She shook her head. “No…it’s not that…and I really appreciate you opening up to me about – everything. I’m just – it’s starting to get hotter out here and I could really go for a smoothie right now.” Oliver decided not to push the issue; instead, he rose from the bench and offered her his arm. “Okay. A smoothie sounds good.”


	22. A Lot to Think About

Oliver and Felicity slowly walked back to her apartment after stopping briefly at The Tropical Smoothie Hut for refreshments. Oliver insisted on paying; he chose the Triple Berry Antioxidant Assault, while Felicity went with her favorite – Strawberry Kiwi. As she sipped on the cold beverage, she was still thinking about what Oliver had said in the park. He wanted to have kids someday; he wanted a family. The more she considered it, the less bizarre it seemed to imagine Oliver as a husband and father. It was no secret that he was very protective of the people he cared about, but Felicity also saw the sacrifices he made. When it came to his loved ones, he was the most selfless man she knew.

Felicity sighed. Despite the many wonderful qualities she admired about him, Oliver had a long list of failed relationships; she went through the list of women in her head. _Laurel…Sara… Shado...Helena._ Felicity shuttered at the thought of the cold-hearted crossbow wielding woman who had tied her up after forcing her to hack the FBI’s database for information about her father’s location. _Psycho Killer_. Felicity’s mind immediately started playing the song ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads and she nodded along to the rhythm of the music that only she could hear. A moment later, she snapped her attention back to the task at hand. _Okay, Helena was a psycho killer and you’re getting distracted. Who’s next?_ _McKenna…then Laurel **again** – Poor Tommy... Isabel – ugh…and Sara… **again**. _ Felicity chuckled quietly to herself. _Hmm. It’s almost like the Lance sisters work on some sort of rotation or something_.  

 _Okay, let’s see. Who came after Sara?_ Felicity furrowed her eyebrows as she walked along in silent concentration. Then it hit her and she abruptly stopped walking. _Me…Oh my God…I’m next in the long line of Oliver Queen’s failed relationships. I mean, I know it isn’t a real relationship, but it still has to end sometime. He’s going to wake up one day and then it will just be over._ Oliver realized Felicity was no longer walking beside him, so he stopped, and turned around with a questioning glance. “Are you okay?” Felicity swallowed, and placed the fingers of her left hand up to her head to massage tiny circles into her temple. “Yeah, just…brain freeze.” Felicity pasted on a smile and forced herself to continue walking, putting forth a tremendous effort to think about something else.

As they reached the stone steps in front of her apartment building, she heard the distinctive sound of Oliver’s straw making a loud slurp, indicating that he was finished with his drink. A moment later, the same sound was being emitted from her own. Oliver reached for her empty cup as he held the door open for her, before tossing the containers into the trash can just inside the building’s entrance. The doors closed soundlessly behind them, and the couple walked over to the center of the lobby, where Felicity quickly pushed the ‘up’ button. Less than a minute later, there was a *ding* that was followed by the sound of the elevator doors opening to reveal that it was empty.

Oliver stepped onto the elevator, held his hand over the door until she was inside, and pushed the button for their floor. “Good call with the smoothies. Did it help cool you off any?” Felicity sighed and placed a hand over her belly. “Yes, but next time, I need to go with the regular size because now I’m really full; we might have to skip lunch today. Besides, Digg is coming over at six with pizza. I told him he could pick out whatever toppings he wants – but nothing weird, like anchovies or sardines…and no sausage.” Oliver laughed, grabbed her hand, and smiled at her in amusement. “Since when is sausage a weird topping?” Felicity stammered. “Oh, it’s not **weird**.  I just don’t like sausage. I mean, I **do** like sausage, just not on pizza...as a topping. I can eat it on a biscuit or in a breakfast casserole…sausage gravy…sausage balls…sausage pinwheels. Huh, I guess I actually like it in a lot of things – but for some reason, pizza just isn’t one of them.”

By the time they exited the elevator and started walking down the hall, Felicity was talking about other foods that she didn’t particularly like. “When I was a little girl, I used to love tomatoes, but I absolutely **hated** ketchup. Now I will eat ketchup, but only on a hamburger or hotdog…and only if it has mustard on it too. No mayonnaise though – don’t even get me **started** on mayonnaise.” She stopped talking when they reached her door, and pulled her keys out of her purse, handing them to Oliver, who took them with a quizzical look on his face. Felicity smiled and answered his unspoken question with a hint of snarkiness in her voice. “I thought you might want to make sure the apartment is clear…you know, check and see if there are any ninjas hiding in the bathroom under the sink or something.” Oliver smirked at her sarcastic comment and cautiously opened the door.

Once he had given her the all-clear by calling out, “Good news. No ninjas under the bathroom sink”, Felicity set her purse down on the counter with a sigh. She peeled off the oversized sunhat and simultaneously kicked off her sandals before picking them up and walking toward her bedroom to put them away. After a few minutes, she popped her head back out of the doorway of her room. “Oliver, I’m going to do a load of laundry. Do you want me to throw your t-shirt and sweatpants from last night in with my clothes?” Oliver looked up from the Wired magazine he had found on the coffee table and was browsing. “Yeah, sure – if you have enough room and it’s no trouble, that would be great. Thank you.”

Felicity returned to the den a few minutes later after starting the laundry, and plopped down on the couch next to Oliver, propping her feet up on the coffee table. She noticed the magazine and observed his frustrated expression with amusement. “Find anything good in there?” Oliver blew out an exasperated breath and let the magazine fall to his lap. “I honestly wouldn’t know if there was…I’ve skimmed through several different articles, and I don’t understand any of it – at all. I’m sure it makes perfect sense to you though.” Felicity reached for the magazine, and gave him an exaggerated grin, while batting her eyelashes in an overly dramatic fashion. “Why, thank you. I’m glad to hear that you appreciate my skills and contribution to the team.” She gave him a playful punch in the arm. “And don’t feel bad about not understanding the articles in my magazines – not all of us can pull off the ‘tight green leather pants’ look, so at least you’ve got **that** going for you…”

Oliver raised an eyebrow as Felicity’s face turned an all-too-familiar shade of pink, and her jaw dropped at what had just come out of her mouth. In an effort to do damage control, she struggled to come up with an acceptable explanation. “What I meant was that we all have different **skills** …not that wearing tight pants is a skill. I know it’s just part of your costume.” Oliver cleared his throat, and Felicity continued. “And by costume, I didn’t mean like a **Halloween** costume or something, because that would imply that you are just playing dress up – and you aren’t! I guess it’s more of an outfit – or better yet, a protective uniform – or armor…a very **manly** green leather suit? Seriously, feel free to step in and stop me at any time now.”

As though she hadn’t just rambled on about his Arrow attire, Oliver gave her a flirtatious smile and went back to her earlier comment. “Well, since I’ve never seen you wear tight leather pants, I’ll have to reserve judgment for the moment.” He let his eyes wander over her body before finishing his thought. “Having said that…I’m sure you could pull it off…although, personally, I’m a fan of the short skirts you wear at the office.” He winked at her, and her eyes widened in surprise as her mouth fell open; she struggled to come up with an objection. “What do you mean, ‘ **short** skirts’? Oliver Queen – I’ll have you know that the skirts I wear are **not** that short…and I **always** dress professionally for work!”

Oliver was a little startled by her sudden outburst, and instinctively placed his hand on her thigh in a calming gesture. “Hey, I’m sorry. I wasn’t complaining, and I don’t think your skirts are too short. I like the clothes that you wear. You always look nice – **and** professional.” Felicity didn’t know if it was because of their current conversation, but she was suddenly hyperaware of his hand on her thigh, and the fact that it was completely touching skin. When she looked down, it became evident that the hem of her sundress had ridden up when she sat on the couch, and was now a lot higher on her thigh than she had realized. _Okay, maybe he does have a point. My skirts and dresses might be a **little** too short…but it’s not like people mistake me for a hooker._

Felicity took a slow breath in through her nose and let it out before turning back to Oliver. “I’m sorry for getting so defensive…and thank you for the compliment.” She cleared her throat and nervously tried to pull the hem of her dress down, but was unsuccessful. Neither of them spoke, and the tension was palpable. Felicity couldn’t take it any longer, so she sprung from the couch and quickly turned back around to see Oliver’s apprehensive face. “I’m going to…clean my – our room…the bathroom…tub. You can do…whatever you feel like doing…out here.” She walked to her bedroom and stopped at the door. “Don’t forget – Digg will be here at six o’clock with dinner.”

Felicity shut the door behind her and let out a short breath before walking over to her floor-length mirror. Glancing at her reflection, she noted that the hem of her sundress came down to rest a couple of inches above the middle of her thigh. _Okay! Fine! It’s a short dress – but it’s **comfortable**!_ She shook her head, unzipped the dress, stepped out of it, and threw the wadded up fabric into the laundry basket with a little too much force. Reaching into her dresser, she grabbed a white tank top with a picture of a blue police box on it, and pulled it over her head before snatching a pair of shorts out of the drawer. Felicity held them up in front of her face and frowned at the length; she let out an amused snort. _Whatever._ After shimmying into her short shorts, she tied her hair up in a sky blue paisley bandana and looked toward the bathroom. _Great. Now I actually have to clean the tub._


	23. A Dose of Domesticity

Felicity queued up her favorite 80’s Mix playlist and focused on cleaning the Jacuzzi tub first; when she finished that, she moved on to the shower, toilet, and sink. Still not wanting to leave the safety of her bathroom, she cleaned the mirror, counter, and mopped the floor. She could feel the sweat soaking into her bandana as she gathered her cleaning supplies to place them back under the sink. _This is great – just great. I’m hiding out in the bathroom because I’m too scared to go out into my own living room…because **he’s** out there…doing…actually, now I wonder what he **is** doing. _ Before her mind could ponder any longer on the subject, she heard the distinct *beep* of the washing machine, indicating that it had finished.

When Felicity emerged from the bedroom, it was to find Oliver doing pushups on the floor beside the couch – shirtless. She folded her arms and cleared her throat. “Of course. I should have **known**.” Oliver didn’t stop his routine, but questioned her with a grunt. “Should have known what?” Felicity let out a frustrated sigh. “That I can’t leave you alone for –” She looked over at the digital clock on the microwave. “forty-five minutes without you going all ‘Richard Simmons’ on me…okay – that’s a **really** bad example. First of all, you don’t look anything like him…and secondly, you don’t work out in tiny shorts…but, if someone were to compare energy or stamina…you know what – never mind. My point is…you **just** got out of the hospital. What part of ‘take it easy’ do you not understand?”

Oliver finished his last pushup, and propelled himself off of the floor and into a squatting position, which allowed him to then stand and face her. His body language was screaming ‘defensive mode’, however, Felicity had a hard time keeping her eyes from zoning in on his tight, chiseled chest and abs. Oliver took a few steps closer to her and stopped once his full height gave him the strategic advantage of towering over her. His response was equally filled with frustration. “I don’t know, Felicity…what part of ‘I feel fine’ do **you** not understand?”

Not one to be manipulated by his intimidation tactics, Felicity’s hands were now on her hips as she took a defiant stance; her voice was strong and unwavering. “Alright, Oliver...I’ll tell you what I **do** understand. I understand that less than **twenty** - **four** **hours** ago, you were in a serious accident and suffered a significant blow to the head. I understand that you were unconscious for a long time and that you were lucky to wake up. I **also** understand that the doctor gave you very specific, very **simple** instructions: **take it easy**.”

Even with her slight frame, the way she was standing, paired with the escalating voice and fierce look in her eyes, caused him to take a slight step back. The meaning behind her words finally sunk in and Oliver realized she wasn’t trying to be bossy. She was rattled; she was scared. At this realization, he immediately felt remorseful for his sharp tone, and sought to ease her concern. He placed his hands on her bare arms and rubbed gentle circles over her skin with his thumbs. “Felicity, I’m sorry for snapping at you, but please trust me when I say that I’m fine. Everything is fine. Look, I didn’t even work up much of a sweat. See?”

The sensation of his touch on her bare arms sent an involuntary shiver down her spine; she tried to disguise it by letting her hands fall back down to her sides. “Well, that’s fortunate for you, because it’s too late to add the clothes you’re wearing –” She looked directly into his naked chest and blinked a few times before correcting her statement. “the **pants** that you’re wearing…to the clothes that just finished washing. Speaking of…” She turned to walk toward the laundry room and it was at that moment that Oliver finally noticed her ensemble; his eyes immediately zeroed in on her shorts, and the generous amount of leg that they so helplessly failed to cover. He cleared his throat and swallowed quickly before struggling to tear his gaze away from her legs, opting to stare at the back of her shirt instead.

Without breaking her stride, Felicity turned her head to look him straight in the eye before responding in a deadpan tone. “Yes, I know…They’re short. Deal with it.” Oliver chuckled softly and gave her a mischievous smile that caused his eyes to twinkle just a little. “Again – I’m not complaining.” Felicity huffed past him; she could swear she felt his eyes follow her out of the room, and it caused her to shiver again. After transferring the damp clothes to the dryer and starting the cycle, she noticed the plastic white hamper that was almost overflowing with towels needing to be washed _. Looks like it’s time to do a load of towels too._ She wadded and threw the towels into the washing machine one at a time and poured in the detergent before pushing the start button.

When Felicity returned to the living room, Oliver was pulling his t-shirt over his head. She took a few seconds to discreetly admire his back muscles as they flexed, before being covered by a light gray material that looked so soft, Felicity had to fight the urge to walk over to him and feel it under her fingertips. _Stop it. Stop it. Stop it._ _Keep your hands to yourself!_ She shook her head and started walking toward the bedroom door again. “Okay. Clothes are in the dryer and towels are in the washer. I’m going to straighten up a little in the bedroom and when the dryer goes off in about thirty minutes, you better not be doing pushups…or anything else that could make you all sweaty.”

She halted in her tracks at the sound of his soft chuckle, but refused to turn around and see what she was certain would be a smirk on Oliver’s smug face. Instead, she sighed and with a quiet voice, made her request. “Please, Oliver. No more exercising today…just – just rest. That’s all I ask.” His tone matched hers in softness, and she heard the genuine promise in his words when he responded. “Okay, Felicity. No more exercise today.” The ‘thank you’ that came out of her mouth was so quiet, he almost didn’t hear it before the bedroom door slowly closed behind her.

Felicity spent the next thirty minutes discreetly making room for Oliver’s things; she pushed her clothes over to one side in the closet, and managed to empty a couple of drawers for him to use. She thought it was baffling that he was under the impression that he had been living with her, yet didn’t find it odd that none of his things were there. Digg had picked up a few necessities for Oliver and brought them to the hospital before he was discharged. He had managed to pack most of his toiletries and several days’ worth of pants, shirts, socks, and underwear into that duffel bag. After carefully putting his clothes away, her mind went back to the bathroom, and more specifically, the toiletry bag that was still sitting on the counter from the night before. _Oliver, I don’t know how long you are going to be living with me, but I’m sorry – there is no way that bag is staying on the counter._

The sound of the dryer signaled that it was time for Felicity to leave the comfort and safety of her bedroom. She emerged to find Oliver ‘reading’ another one of her magazines, a look of utter confusion fixed on his face. _Well, at least he isn’t doing handstands or burpees._ She smirked, and walked past him to the laundry room. After emptying the dryer’s contents into a clean hamper, the washer’s alarm went off, halting her exit from the laundry room. _Wow – talk about perfect timing._ She placed the basket back down, and quickly filled the dryer with damp towels.

Felicity unceremoniously dropped the hamper of clean clothes on the coffee table, causing Oliver to gaze up from his magazine with an inquisitive look. Felicity smiled at him. “Okay, Mr. ‘I feel fine’ – do you know how to fold clothes?” Her sarcastic remark about his wealthy upbringing earned her an equally sarcastic reaction. Oliver peered into the basket and pulled out a pair of Felicity’s panties. “Let’s find out…should I start with these?” The heat spread quickly throughout her face. “I’ll take those, thank you very much!” Felicity snatched the underwear from him and threw his pair of sweatpants and t-shirt from the night before at his head. “Here. Why don’t you just fold these instead?”

Oliver secretly enjoyed watching Felicity get flustered, and decided to have some more fun. “Well, for starters, these don’t have cute little cartoon strawberries on them…” He rifled his fingers through the laundry hamper, pulled out another pair of underwear, and smiled. “Or sheep…” He studied the material more closely with eyebrows drawn in mock concentration. “…that, judging by all the ‘Zzzzzzzzzs’ I can only assume are counting…more sheep?” Felicity blushed again before blurting out a defense. “There’s nothing wrong with having cute panties, and for your information, they happen to be extremely comfortable! Not that you really needed to know that…information.” Oliver let out a breathy laugh. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Felicity grabbed her ‘sheep counting sheep’ panties and quickly went through the rest of the clothes in the hamper, plucking out every remaining pair of underwear before Oliver had a chance to comment on them, and cause her any more embarrassment. In the process of stirring clothes around in search of her intimates, she uncovered the navy dress with white polka dots that had been residing at the bottom of the basket; it caught Oliver’s attention. He reached for the dress, and pulled it out of the hamper, holding it up in front of him so that he could see the design better.

“Hey. This is a pretty dress. Why don’t you ever wear it around the office?” Felicity took the dress from his hands and stood up from the couch. “Thanks for the reminder. I need to go hang this up before it gets too wrinkled.” As she was walking toward the bedroom, she called back out to him. “And to answer your question, it’s more of a date night dress.” After watching her disappear from the doorway, the words ‘date night’ rung in Oliver’s ears. Suddenly, what felt like a sharp knife ripped through his head and he almost cried out in surprise at the blinding pain. _What the hell?_

Felicity was coming back from hanging up the dress and putting her panties away; a snarky comment regarding her choice of intimates was on the tip of her tongue, but it promptly withered and died there when she returned to find Oliver leaning over with elbows propped on his knees, palms pressed into his temples. Her eyes widened, and she rushed to sit beside him on the couch, her hand reaching out to touch his arm. “Oliver! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” His eyes were closed, and she could tell that he was clenching his jaw. “Oliver, talk to me. What’s going on? Is it your head? Does it hurt?”

Before he could respond, she was standing and pulling her phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to call Dr. Lawton.” Her shoulders slumped forward slightly when she realized it was Sunday. “ **Crap**! Okay, it’s okay. We’ll just – ER. We’ll go to the ER!” She was so distracted by her mind frantically trying to figure out the logistics of getting him to the hospital, that she didn’t hear Oliver very quietly and calmly say her name. Instead, she continued to voice her hysterical thoughts, momentarily forgetting he was still in the room. “Exercise. It was probably all the exercise. I knew it was too much, but Nooooo. I have to do my manly pushups even though I just got out of the hospital, and the doctor told me to –”

The feel of his hand closing around her wrist jerked her attention back to the man who was sitting on her couch. Oliver sighed and looked up at her. “Felicity, I’m not going to the ER.” The finality in his statement caused her to sit back down next to him and wait for an explanation; he obliged. “It was just a sharp pain, but it’s gone. Now it’s just – a dull ache…nothing to worry about. Okay?” She nodded her understanding and waited a few seconds before asking, “is there…anything I can do to help? Do you want me to get you some…Tylenol or something?” Oliver looked at her with gratitude in his eyes before shaking his head ‘no’.

Felicity frowned at the hand that was still pressed into the side of his head in an effort to alleviate the pain. “Well, at least let me…I mean, maybe if I just –” She reached over and boldly placed her fingertips on either side of his head and started to massage gentle circles into his temples. At the cool touch of her fingers, Oliver closed his eyes again and let out an appreciative sigh. For several minutes, Felicity wordlessly continued making tiny circles against his skin, while simultaneously using her thumbs to rub the back of his head. At some point, without realizing it, her fingers left his temples and started to gently wander through his hair, drawing random patterns against his scalp. Suddenly, the intimacy of her actions sent her mind reeling. _What am I doing? What on **earth** am I doing?_ She didn’t have long to process that train of thought before she felt Oliver’s weight slowly leaning against her, until his body came to rest with his head laying in her lap, his eyes closed in deep relaxation.


	24. Another Dose of Domesticity

Felicity lost track of time as she continued to run her fingers through Oliver’s hair; his head still rested comfortably in her lap, and a peaceful expression was on his face. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him look so relaxed, and her heart ached for him as she stared down at the faint signs of what were now permanent creases in his brow, no doubt caused from years of pain and sorrow. Her hand instinctively smoothed over the skin on his forehead before returning to his hair; she was suddenly struck by how natural it felt to be sitting on the couch with Oliver. Something stirred within her stomach, and she tried to swallow those feelings as her brain took over.

With everything that had happened in the past few days, her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and this was the first opportunity for her to try to analyze it all. She thought back to how he called her beautiful in the hospital room, and the way he sounded so sincere when he had said she was his happiness. Remembering the look in his eyes and more importantly, the way he said those things, caused feelings of hope to bubble up from her heart. _What if he really **did** mean it? What if he thinks we are dating because he **does** feel that way about me? Maybe he isn’t confused… **No** …don’t you **dare** even go down that road! You can’t afford to put yourself out there only to be rejected later when he comes back to his senses._

Oliver suddenly turned his head toward her and softly kissed the inside of her wrist, causing her massage to come to an abrupt halt. His eyes fluttered open and caught her startled gaze. “What are you thinking about?” Felicity swallowed and quickly came out of her trance. “What? Who said I was thinking about anything?” Oliver let out a soft chuckle and smiled up at her. “Well, you haven’t said anything in over twenty minutes…” He waited for her response, but after seeing her blank expression, continued with the logic he had started. “The only time you are that quiet is if you are thinking or sleeping.” He squinted his eyes at her in a playful manner and cheekily added, “And…it doesn’t look like you’re sleeping right now…which means that you must be thinking.”

Felicity gave him a half-hearted glare, but it was hard to maintain the disapproving front when he was lying there with his head in her lap, his beautiful blue eyes staring up at her beneath their heavy lashes. She replied with an exaggerated *hmph* and decided to go with sarcastic. “Well, it sounds like you have it **all** figured out –you probably think you know **everything** about me, don’t you?” Oliver grinned, with a smug look. “Maybe not everything…but I do think I know you pretty well.” Felicity let out a short huff.  “Oh really…and did it ever occur to you that maybe I was being quiet out of consideration because of your headache…and that I just wanted to make you feel better –” She slammed her eyes shut in frustration. “Wanted… **you** to feel better.”

Oliver’s expression softened into one of utter appreciation, as he grabbed one of her hands and held it to his chest. “Actually, that did occur to me.” His gaze was now so intense that she knew it would be impossible to look away; he was speaking again, this time with a more serious tone. “Felicity, you are…the most thoughtful and selfless person…I have ever known. The way you genuinely care about others – even people you don’t know…makes me want to be a better man.” He paused before smiling up at her again. “And for the record, you **did** make me feel better…you must have magical fingers.” He brought the hand he was holding up from his chest to his mouth, brushing her knuckles with a soft kiss. She blinked at his compliment, but before she could say anything in response (or melt into a puddle of goo), the moment was interrupted by a very loud *BEEP*.

Felicity jumped at the sound of the dryer, and her head jerked toward the laundry room. “ **Towels**! The towels are going off!” She closed her eyes and shook her head, and this time made sure her speech was slow enough to ensure that she was able to correct her verbal gaffe. “What I meant was…that was the **dryer** is going off, which means that the **towels** are done.” Oliver slowly lifted himself into a sitting position so that Felicity could get up from the couch. When she returned to the living room with a basket full of colorful towels propped on her hip, Oliver flashed a bright smile at her, but it immediately fell from his face and was replaced with a look of apprehension once he noticed her expression. Felicity arched a cocky eyebrow and threw down the challenge along with the basket. “Okay, Oliver. Since you know me ‘pretty well’…let’s see if you can show me what I consider to be the proper way to fold a towel.”

It only took a couple of demonstrations before Oliver was able to fold a towel without any guidance or correction from her. After mastering what he was now referring to as, “The Felicity Way”, he was able to keep pace with her as she quickly worked beside him. Once he placed the last of the folded towels on top of his stack, he felt an odd sense of pride at the accomplishment. He glanced over at Felicity’s stack of towels, which was noticeably taller than his own, and let out a small sigh of defeat. “Next time, I’ll beat you.”

Felicity grinned as she rose with the basket full of folded towels. “Okay, you’re on…but let’s make it interesting. Loser washes dishes for…oh, I don’t know…say a week?” The corner of Oliver’s mouth twitched slightly, but he responded back with confidence. “Sounds good to me.” Felicity spun on her heel and started walking toward the bedroom, only to stop at the doorway. She turned around and he noticed that she was biting her lip; a few seconds later, her mouth morphed into a smirk. “Oliver, you might want to buy a good pair of rubber gloves. I would hate for the Arrow’s performance to suffer due to…dishpan hands.” Without giving him a chance to respond, she walked briskly into the bedroom, leaving him sitting on the couch, mouth slightly open.


	25. A Dinner Date with Digg

When Felicity returned to the living room, she could tell Oliver was bored by the way his fingers restlessly moved against his pants leg; he wasn’t used to just sitting still and doing nothing. She appreciated his willingness to honor her request of no more exercise, but part of her felt bad knowing that she was the cause of his boredom. An idea struck her, and she approached the couch with a bounce in her step. “Hey. You wanna help me make some cookies?” Oliver looked up at her with a curious expression. “What kind of cookies?” Felicity grinned back at him. “Only the **best** chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever tasted in your entire life…”

After the last baking sheet was out of the oven and had finished cooling on the stove, Felicity swiped an arm over her forehead, wiping away tiny beads of sweat that were starting to form from the excess heat being put off by the oven. She had just gotten through putting al but two of the cookies in an airtight container, sealing it with a *snap*. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to sit down for a while – the dishes can wait.” Oliver agreed, and followed her out of the kitchen, after watching her grab a paper towel and the two remaining cookies from the baking sheet on the stove.

Oliver sat down on what was now officially ‘his’ side of the couch, and Felicity plopped down beside him before handing him a cookie. She watched him take a bite, and then smiled as his expression changed to one of pure pleasure. “ **Wow** …Felicity. These are – **really** good. I thought you were just saying they were the best.” She bit into her own cookie and responded with an approving *mmm*. “Tell me about it…It’s been a few years, but I’m glad to know that I haven’t lost my touch.” She noticed Oliver’s eyes start to darken slightly, and she swallowed nervously. “at making cookies…I used to bake a lot, but I haven’t had much free time lately – which, I’m not complaining. I mean, it just hasn’t been a priority since… **Netflix**!”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Netflix?” Felicity nodded. “Yeah, let’s watch something on Netflix while we wait for Digg to get here with the pizza. Anything in particular you want to watch?” Oliver shrugged in indifference. “Whatever you want to watch will be fine.” She gave him a mischievous smile, and he briefly wondered if he had accidentally set himself up for an afternoon of non-stop cheesy romantic comedies; he had never been a fan of those when he and Laurel were dating. Felicity grabbed the remote and aimed it at the entertainment center. “I’ll remember you said that.”

She had insisted that they start with the series reboot, although she admitted that the tenth doctor would always be her favorite. Oliver listened carefully as she tried to explain little details about the show without giving away too much, but he was hopelessly lost in a sea of words that had absolutely no meaning to him. _Daleks...Cybermen…Tardis._ However, despite the utter confusion, he couldn’t help but smile at seeing the excitement and the animated way in which she talked about the show, and that alone somehow made it worth it all. As he focused his attention towards the screen in an effort to make sense of what he was seeing, Felicity finished folding her laundry and set the basket on the floor.

Oliver lost track of how many episodes they had watched, and when he heard a knock at the door, it caused him to jump slightly. Felicity put her hand on his knee and grabbed the remote, pressing pause. “That will probably be Digg – I’ll get it.” Felicity briefly peeked through the peephole before opening the door. She was greeted by Digg, who was balancing three pizza boxes on one hand and holding a bottle of wine in the other. He held the pizza and wine up and grinned. “I come bearing gifts.” Felicity observed the label of the wine and hummed appreciatively. “Nice choice – come on in.” She tugged on the doorknob, and held the door open long enough for him to step inside before promptly locking it behind him.

The moment Digg entered the apartment, years of training and experience caused him to instinctively observe his surroundings in a matter of seconds. There was a faint sweet smell hanging in the air; his head turned to the kitchen and noticed the baking pans lying next to the sink, each with twelve round dark shadows. _Cookies_. His eyes darted toward the living room; there was a laundry hamper full of folded clothes sitting on the floor by the coffee table. An image of some sort of weird looking machines was frozen on the TV screen; he shook his head. _Probably one of Felicity’s sci-fi shows_. He quickly located Oliver, who was comfortably seated on one end of the couch with both feet propped up on the coffee table. It didn’t escape Digg’s notice that Oliver seemed to be completely at home.

His attention was brought back to the matter at hand. As he was setting the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter, he turned to Felicity, who was now retrieving three wine glasses that were hanging underneath the cabinet. “Felicity, I know you said, ‘no sausage’…and please don’t hate me, but I did get it on **one** of the pizzas.” Before she could look too disappointed, he continued with a twinge of childlike excitement lacing his voice. “Giuseppe’s just came out with a new pizza called ‘The **Gigantor’**. It’s an extra-large, deep dish pizza with six toppings…all meat. I just couldn’t resist. I’m sure Oliver and I can knock it out without any problem.”

When he saw the astonished look on her face, he quickly went to reassure her. “Don’t worry – like I said, the other two are sausage free.” Nodding her head in silent understanding, Felicity turned back around to retrieve three plates from the cabinet. After setting them down on the counter next to the now opened pizza boxes, she glanced at the contents of the enormous box. “Holy mother of – ‘Gigantor’ as in…it’s as big as a **dinosaur**!” Eyes wide with something akin to a mixture of shock and horror, she called out toward the living room. “Hey, Oliver...I don’t know if you heard, but Digg brought a food challenge for you guys…so I hope you’re… **really** hungry.”

Despite the cookies she and Oliver had sampled earlier, Felicity was actually pretty hungry herself, however, she knew that if Digg and Oliver somehow managed to finish ‘The Gigantor’, they probably wouldn’t be eating any of the other two pizzas. At her announcement, Oliver had vacated the couch and was now standing in the kitchen next to Digg, looking at the gargantuan pizza that was dwarfing the other two sitting next to it on the counter. He gave Digg a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. “Looks good. I don’t think it’s going to be much of a **challenge** though. You and I can handle it – easy.” Felicity was already walking out of the kitchen towards the living room with her own plate full of pizza and glass of wine as she quietly muttered under her breath. “Famous last words.”

Digg and Oliver settled on the couch, while Felicity chose to sit on the floor across from them on the other side of the coffee table. She decided to put a cork in watching Doctor Who, and instead relinquished the remote to the guys; a few minutes later, the sounds of sneakers squeaking and balls bouncing filled the living room as the two men leaned toward the TV in excitement. Felicity quietly skimmed various articles on her tablet while eating her pizza, occasionally stopping to take a sip of wine; still mindful of the other night, she was careful not to drink too much. At one point, both men jumped up from the couch with exclamations of excitement after a player made a particularly impressive shot. Felicity smiled and thought about how nice it was for the three of them to be spending time together doing something so completely normal, outside of the lair. It warmed her heart.

Somehow, the two men finally succeeded in finishing ‘The Gigantor’. Felicity was pretty certain their pride had a lot to do with it – that, and the fact that they didn’t want to hear her tease them about being defeated by a pizza. After the basketball game was over, Oliver turned the TV volume down so that it was merely background noise. He casually mentioned a few criminals they had been dealing with over the past several weeks, started asking questions, and discussing different strategies that they might pursue. He was so focused, that he didn’t notice the quiet exchange between Digg and Felicity.   

When there was a lull in conversation, Digg turned to face him. “Oliver, you definitely look a little better than you did yesterday. How do you feel?” Oliver let out a frustrated sigh. “Like I’ve been telling Felicity all day long – I feel fine.” Digg chose his next words carefully. “You know, if you want to take some time off from work and being the Arrow to give your body a chance to heal, we won’t think any less of you.” Felicity looked up to see if there was any chance he would yield to their friend’s advice, although she knew exactly how this was going to play out even before he responded.

Oliver chuckled softly, almost in disbelief that after everything the three of them had been through together, he still had to defend himself. “Digg, this isn’t the first time I’ve been injured…and it won’t be the last. I’ve never taken time off because of a few cuts and bruises, and I certainly don’t see the need to start now.” The finality in his tone let Digg know that there wasn’t any room for discussion, so the older man simply nodded in understanding.  “Okay…it’s your choice – and I figured that’s what you would say…so I brought you a clean suit for tomorrow. I left it in the car, but I’ll go get it before I leave.”

In an effort to lighten the mood, Felicity decided to interject her way into the conversation. “I hope you both saved room for cookies!” Digg groaned, and placed a hand over his stomach. “You can’t be serious right now. Felicity, you saw how big that pizza was.” Without sparing him an ounce of sympathy, Felicity gave him her best deadpan voice. “John Diggle, I do **not** joke about chocolate chip cookies…especially not about **my** homemade chocolate chip cookies.” Oliver weighed in with his support. “I was skeptical before, but she really does make the best chocolate chip cookies. You should try one.” Felicity rewarded his compliment by giving him a heartfelt smile that for some reason made him feel warm and tingly.

Digg looked from one team member to the other, reading the sincerity on their faces. “For the record, you’re both evil…but I honestly couldn’t eat another bite even if my life depended on it – and thankfully, it doesn’t.” Felicity wasn’t ready to take ‘no’ for an answer. “Are you sure?” He nodded resolutely. “Positive.” She laughed and stood up from the floor, stretching her arms over her head. “Okay. Well at least take some home with you – and make sure you save at least one for Lyla. Trust me – you do **not** want to withhold cookies from a pregnant woman. Not even the Arrow would be able to save you from her wrath.” Felicity walked into the kitchen and came back a couple of minutes later holding a bag full of the delicious cookies.

At the mention of his partner, Digg rose from the couch and started making his way toward the door. “Speaking of Lyla, it’s getting late, so I better head back home; I promised her I wouldn’t be out past 10:00 tonight.” Felicity glanced toward the microwave. “Okay, it looks like you have…” She squinted through her glasses at the slightly fuzzy looking digital numbers. “…about twenty minutes left before you are officially in the dog house. Thanks again for bringing the pizza – and wine! Oh, and tell Lyla we missed getting to see her, and that I hope she feels better soon.” Digg nodded his thanks. “You’re welcome, and I certainly will.” After darting a quick glance over at Oliver. “I’ll see you in the morning, Oliver.” Digg then gave Felicity a meaningful look. “Oh, I almost forgot – I need to go get that suit before I leave. Felicity, do you mind walking me out?” Without hesitating, Felicity nodded and strode toward her bedroom. “Yeah, sure. Just let me slip on a pair of shoes first.”


	26. A Bit of Disclosure

Once Felicity had closed the door to her apartment, Digg gently guided her by the arm a few feet away from the door and steadied her with a serious look; he abruptly let out a heavy exhale and spoke to her in a hushed tone. “So…how was day one?” Felicity lowered her head slightly, leaned forward, and met his eyes with an expression that held the promise of revealing a big secret. “To be honest…it was…a little surreal. He cooked breakfast for me – which was…Digg, it was **amazing**! Who knew, right? **Clearly** , Oliver has some secret skills he hasn’t shared with us before.” Digg’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at her phrasing, but Felicity didn’t notice as she was temporarily lost in thought. “I mean…I guess I just always imagined that – for Oliver – cooking meant…being bent over a fire in the woods – you know, in total Bear Grylls extreme survival mode – while slowly turning a tiny squirrel carcass or something on a crudely whittled stick.” She cringed at her own description. “Ugh…a little too visual.”  

“Babbling…three…two…one.” Felicity used this time to mentally catalogue the events of her day before reporting further. “Anyway…after breakfast, we washed dishes, then we went for a walk in the park…stopped for smoothies on the way back…did some laundry, made those amazing cookies you are holding in your hand, watched some Doctor Who on Netflix, and then –.” Digg couldn’t keep from interrupting her at that point. “Wait – are you telling me that you got Oliver Queen to wash dishes and do laundry?” Felicity blushed, but recovered quickly. “Well, technically, **I** washed the dishes and he dried. As for the laundry, he helped me fold towels…primarily.” She deliberately left out the part about them discussing her underwear.  She let out a huge sigh. “So yeah…that was day one, and tomorrow is day two. Going back to work should be…interesting.”  

After Felicity had finished speaking, she noticed Digg’s face held an odd expression; it looked painfully apologetic. He took a deep breath and then spoke. “Felicity, I really appreciate what you are doing to help Oliver, but…if it’s too much, we can figure out something else. With everything happening the way it did, I didn’t even stop to consider how much of an inconvenience this must be for you.” Felicity shrugged off his concern. “Digg, it’s fine. We’re all in this together, remember? I don’t mind doing my part.” Digg sighed. “Felicity, nobody could ever accuse you of not doing your part, or even question your devotion to the team, but what we do as Team Arrow shouldn’t affect your personal life.”

Felicity tilted her head to the side. “I don’t understand…my personal life? What are you talking about?” Digg sighed again before looking back at her. “I’m talking about your boyfriend.” There was a slight pause of silence while Felicity shook her head and blinked a few times. “I’m sorry – I think I must have…heard you wrong. My…what?” Digg repeated himself. “Your boyfriend.” Felicity nodded slowly. “Okay, that’s what I thought you said the first time.” Digg held up a hand and went on to explain. “Felicity, it’s okay. I can understand why you didn’t want to tell us about –.” Felicity raised her own hand to silence him. “No. Digg, stop…You don’t understand. I – don’t have a boyfriend…” She chuckled and used her thumb to point back at her apartment door. “…unless you count the **pretend** boyfriend who is currently inside sitting on my couch right now…”

Felicity trailed off to allow Digg an opportunity to explain, but when he didn’t offer any clarification, she placed a hand on his arm and prodded further. “Digg, what on earth are you talking about? Why would you think that I have a boyfriend?” Digg looked at her, confusion drawing his brows close together causing a deep wrinkle to form between them. He cocked his head to the side. “Didn’t you go out to dinner the other night?” Felicity answered him without hesitation. “Yes, but it wasn’t a date or anything.” Digg looked even more puzzled as he quietly muttered to himself. “He said that he was all over you in the parking lot.” Felicity heard him and felt her cheeks flame; she swallowed the lump of apprehension that had suddenly formed in her throat. “What? **Who** said that?”

Digg shifted his weight uncomfortably and cleared his throat before answering her in an almost inaudible whisper. “Oliver did.” Felicity let those two words sink in as she slowly shook her head back and forth in disbelief. “But how would Oliver…” Before she could give voice to the rest of that question, she remembered hearing the loud roaring motorcycle that had drowned her out while talking with Charlie at the restaurant; her eyes widened in understanding, and then quickly narrowed in outrage. She sucked in a deep breath and blurted out in disbelief. “He was **spying** on me?!” Although she was technically speaking in a quieter-than-normal voice, the word ‘spying’ still managed to come out as a shriek.

The sparks of anger that were flashing from her eyes made Digg take a step back, and he raised his hands in a defensive gesture before carefully approaching her again, glancing nervously at the door. “Felicity…look, I know you’re really pissed off right now – and trust me – you have every right to be. I know that he crossed the line by following you, but he only did it because he was genuinely worried. He said you asked for the night off and that you were acting anxious all afternoon. He just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Felicity was still seething, but she took a long deep breath in through her nose and snapped back a response. “Okay… **fine**! So I didn’t tell Oliver what I was doing Thursday night. Worried or not, that **doesn’t** give him the right to spy on me.”

She then remembered Oliver’s behavior towards Charlie the day after their “ **not-date** ” and became livid again. “You know, I can **maybe** understand him being upset with me for not telling him about my plans for Thursday night, however, I don’t understand why he was so rude to **Charlie**!” Digg chuckled softly to himself, and stroked his chin with his hand while shaking his head. “Oh, Felicity. That part’s easy to understand.” When the confused expression remained fixed on her face, he patted her arm gently and smiled. “Oliver is a jealous asshole.” Felicity was quick to respond. “Wha –” Digg didn’t bother letting her finish the question before providing the answer. “Oliver was jealous. That’s why he was rude to your friend.” Digg turned away from her shocked face and started walking toward the elevator with a smirk. He paused before stepping inside. “I’ll be right back with Oliver’s suit.”


	27. A Difference of Opinion

Felicity stood there in the hallway outside of her apartment staring at the light beige wall just past where Digg had stood moments before; her brain was trying to process the information it had just received. She played back what Digg had just said. _Oliver was jealous. That’s why he was rude to your friend._ Her brows furrowed in confusion. _Oliver was jealous? Why on earth would he be jealous? That doesn’t make any sense._ She thought back to the way he had acted toward Charlie and she remembered the painful look of rejection in his eyes right before she left for lunch. _Was he jealous of Charlie?_ Her friend had made that assumption; she recalled what Charlie had told her at Big Belly Burger. _He obviously likes you_. She shook her head. _Oh, what does he know, anyway? He only met Oliver that one time, and they were both being complete jerks to each other_. She rolled her eyes. _Big_ o _verprotective idiots._

Felicity glanced back at the door to her apartment, and focused her thoughts on the man she had left sitting comfortably on her couch. If there was anyone who knew Oliver better than Felicity herself, it was their brother in arms, John Diggle, and he had just voiced his opinion on the matter. The skeptical side of her brain stepped in to play devil’s advocate. _Well… even **Digg** can be wrong sometimes._ _He’s probably just so happy in love with Lyla right now that he can’t help projecting it where it doesn’t exist. After all, I think I would **know** if Oliver liked me…like that_. _I mean, it’s not like he has ever given me any reason to believe that he thinks of me as more than just a close friend._ Her stomach fluttered as she remembered his lips gently kissing the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist while his head lay in her lap. _Stop thinking about the way he’s acting **now** – he isn’t **himself** right now! Head trauma, remember? It’s not as though he was all touchy-feely with you like that **before** he stepped into the twilight zone._ Her mind was instantly flooded with memories of all the subtle touches he had given her over the past couple of years. _Shoulder touches don’t count…_

She was so lost in thought, that she didn’t hear Digg’s footsteps approaching. “Still stewing, I see.” Felicity instinctively jumped at the sound of his voice. Her eyes met his with a stern look as her arms folded automatically across her chest. “Well, what do you expect? You basically insinuated that Oliver likes me – as **more** than a friend – and then you just…walked off before I could tell you that you are wrong.” Digg raised his eyebrows briefly before his face morphed into a more thoughtful look. “Am I though?” Felicity rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips before answering. “Well, I will admit that you aren’t **usually** wrong…but in this case, I think you are quite mistaken.” Digg gave her a smug look. “Hmm. I guess we’ll just have to see. Here’s his suit, by the way.” He held out the garment bag, and she watched as his lips continued to spread into an ever broadening smile.

At this particular moment, Felicity found it to be somewhat unsettling. _Wait a minute. I know that look._ It was his, ‘I know I’m right about this, and you are just too stubborn to see it right now’ look, which was all too often followed by his self-satisfied, ‘I won’t say that I told you so…because it’s enough for me to know that you know that I **did** in fact tell you so’smirk. The man really could say a **lot** without really saying anything. Any other day, she would have let it slide, but today was not any other day. She wasn’t going to let him get away with giving her one of his looks. She was going to call him out on it this time.

Felicity snatched the bag from his hands a little more forcefully than was necessary, and let out an exasperated huff. “Okay…what’s with ‘the look’?” Digg raised his eyebrows, trying his hardest to look innocent. “What ‘look’?” Felicity wasn’t buying his act. “Tell me what you are thinking.” His head tilted slightly to the side. “I just realized that this whole tricky situation suddenly became a lot less complicated, that’s all.” Felicity subconsciously mirrored his posture and matched it with a head tilt of her own. “Would you care to enlighten me as to how you arrived at that **ridiculous** assumption?  I fail to see how anything has changed.”

Digg gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Well, maybe nothing has changed for you, but up until almost ten minutes ago, I was worried about how this was going to interfere with you and your boyfriend’s relationship. Now that I know you don’t **have** a boyfriend – at least not a real one, anyway…it makes things a lot simpler. I’ve never been a fan of crazy love triangles.” Felicity couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Love triangles? Really? First of all, that implies that we are in love with each other – which…we **aren’t** … And secondly, you think that just because I don’t have a boyfriend, it somehow magically makes things simpler now? ” He nodded. “Think of it this way – instead of having to mislead two men, now you only have to worry about one.”

Felicity took a small step closer and was mindful to keep her voice down. “Oh, so **there’s** the silver lining I was looking for – I only have to worry about keeping one man convinced that our fake relationship is real…All sarcasm aside…Digg, I think we can both agree that Oliver’s the **worst** , but you should know that I’m not really a great liar either. I mean, aren’t you the least bit concerned that I might blow this whole charade? He’s bound to notice something is off sooner or later. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend to be his girlfriend before he realizes it’s all a lie.”

“No, Felicity. I’m not worried – and I’ll tell you why. You and Oliver genuinely care for each other. I see it, Lyla sees it – hell – **everybody** seems to see it except for you and Oliver. Now, for some mysterious reason, Oliver believes the two of you are in a romantic relationship –” Felicity interrupted him. “The mysterious reason is called Delusional Disorder.” Digg continued on, ignoring the medical diagnosis. “Or… **maybe** a good blow to the head was exactly the kick in the ass that he needed. Do you **honestly** think that he would believe that the two of you were together if he didn’t have real feelings for you?” Felicity didn’t answer, but blinked a few times, as if she was trying to contemplate his logic. She had considered that as a possibility, but was still unwilling to believe it was actually true.

Digg glanced down at his watch, and then back up at her. “As much as I would love to continue our ‘Dr. Phil’ session, I really have to get going before I need relationship advice on how to appease an angry pregnant woman.” Felicity gave him a half-hearted mumble. “Homemade chocolate chip cookies.” He smiled and pulled her into a comforting hug. “Relax. Don’t worry about trying to be his pretend girlfriend, and simply be yourself. You could even use it as an opportunity to show him how you really feel.” Digg pulled back enough to level her with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Besides, I **really** don’t think he’s acting…so why should you? Simple.”   

Digg gave her a peck on the cheek, let his arms fall down to his sides, and said goodnight before turning to walk away. Felicity spared a moment to watch him go as she let his words sink in, her mind desperately wanted to believe he was right, yet refused to give in without an argument. She shook her head. _Well t_ _hat_ _settles it – the logical part of Digg’s brain has obviously decided to take a vacation...love-struck idiot._ After taking a few calming breaths, she turned on her heel, forced a smile, and twisted the knob. Once she was inside, Oliver’s eyes immediately met hers, and before the door even had a chance to click shut, his brows were already drawn together in concern. Felicity locked the deadbolt and started walking into the main room, only stopping when she heard his concerned voice.

“Is…everything alright?” She shook her head and waved a hand in dismissal of his question. “Of course… Um, I just – I have your suit for tomorrow, and I’m going to go hang it up in the closet so that it doesn’t get wrinkled." She raised the garment bag slightly, and then tried to walk causally to her bedroom without looking as stiff as she felt. Instead of bothering to turn on the light, she entered “their” bedroom and made her way to the closet, using the narrow beam of light cast by the bathroom nightlight as a guide. After placing the hanger on the rail, she unzipped the bag and carefully pulled it away from the suit, casting it aside as it fell soundlessly to the floor. Before she had a chance to turn around, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she instinctively jumped away from the unexpected source of contact.

Felicity closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths in through her nose, giving her heartbeat a chance to slow back down. “Oliver. You…startled me. I thought you were still on the couch and I didn’t hear you sneak up behind me.” She bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything else. “Felicity…” He sounded unsure; his expression still displaying a look of confusion and hurt caused by the way she had recoiled from his touch. Felicity cleared her throat and swallowed, only to find that for some reason, it was now incredibly dry. “Yes?” Oliver placed both hands on her arms, gently turned her body to face his, and spoke in a quiet voice. “Are… **you** okay?”

Without making eye contact, she tried to sound convincing. “Yes. Why do you keep asking me that?” He frowned. “I don’t know. You just seem a little uneasy and…tense.” A humorless laugh escaped her lips as she cocked her head to the side and placed her fists on her hipbones, defiance written all over her stance. “Trust me. I am **not** tense.” Oliver raised an eyebrow in challenge to her claim. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” Before she could respond with some sort of snarky answer, he was standing behind her. She felt his warm, strong hands on both sides of her neck, gently kneading into her aching shoulders. It was as though he somehow knew exactly where to apply pressure and she felt her body start to relax into submission. _Okay, maybe I **am** a little tense…but who wouldn’t be?_

Felicity allowed herself a brief moment to enjoy the way his thumbs rubbed circles over her shoulder blades, forcing the muscles to ease. Without thinking, she closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation as her head dropped forward slightly; a low moan of pleasure escaped her lips, which was followed by a sigh. A moment later, she felt his hot breath tickle her ear as he whispered into the space above her right shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. I believe you were saying something about not being tense...” She could hear the smugness without needing to see his face. She rolled her eyes, and spun around to face him with her index finger raised, unwilling to forfeit the point, although she wasn’t even sure why she was arguing with him.

“Just because I happen to enjoy the way your hands feel when they are rubbing my body does **not** mean that I am **tense**. It simply means that you are **very** talented with your hands – and now that I think about it, it’s not really all that surprising considering what you do in your spare time and with your insane level of fitness – of **course** you have strong, powerful hands, so obviously it makes perfect sense that you give really good massages, and **that** is something that I can appreciate – as I’m sure anyone would – even **without** being tense…so…there.” By the time she finished speaking, she was breathing a little harder than normal, her tiny chest rising with each intake.

Oliver stood there completely baffled, yet mildly amused at her attempt to convince him that she was anything but relaxed when she was so clearly upset. His gut told him that something was definitely off about the way she was behaving, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was yet. If something was bothering her, she certainly didn’t feel like sharing it with him, and if he was honest with himself, it stung more than just a little. Rather than push her any further, he decided to drop the subject for now. Instead, he gave her a smile. “Well, although I’m not entirely sure…I **think** that was a compliment, so thank you. I’m glad that you can appreciate my…strong, powerful hands…and that you think that I give really good massages. Coming from someone with magical fingers, that means a lot.” He winked at her and she felt her face instantly blush. _Thank God it’s dark in here._

“I…uh…better put the pizza up and –” Without finishing her thought, Felicity moved past him out of the bedroom, walked over to the kitchen counter and quickly consolidated the leftover pizza into one of the smaller boxes before opening the refrigerator and placing it on the bottom shelf. She grabbed the pitcher of filtered water from the door, turned back to the over-the-counter cabinets, and reached for a small glass. After filling it almost to the top, she put the pitcher back into the refrigerator. Oliver then observed how she tipped the glass back with her eyes closed and steadily drank until it was completely empty. The glass came back down to rest on the counter with a small *clunk* while Felicity let out a satisfied, “ahhhhhhhh”. He found the action to be so familiar, yet he couldn’t recall ever seeing her do that before.

Felicity must have realized he was staring at her; when she glanced over at him, he smiled. “Thirsty?” She laughed, a little embarrassed by the way she had gulped down an entire glass of water in less than a minute. “Not anymore…but I **am** tired, so I think I’ll go to bed. Are you…going to bed now, or…” He nodded slowly. “You go ahead. I’ll be in shortly.” She glanced down before walking past him to the bedroom. As she went through her nightly ritual of brushing her teeth and removing her makeup, she felt like she was going to fall apart at any given moment. _I wish I could tell him that everything is **not** alright… and I'm **not** okay. I just want him to remember so that everything can go back to normal. _She changed in the bathroom, not wanting to risk him walking in on her partially naked. The camisole and shorts she had grabbed from her dresser drawer weren’t all that immodest, but she decided to leave her bra on; in a way, she thought it might keep her from feeling as exposed.

Felicity got into bed, desperately hoping that sleep would consume her and that when she opened her eyes it would be morning already, but there were too many thoughts going through her head. Although she lay still with her eyes closed, she couldn’t help but listen carefully to everything around her, making a game of trying to identify each sound’s origin in her mind. She heard a faint buzzing coming from behind the bathroom door. _Oliver’s toothbrush_. Rushing water. _The sink_. Silence, then a door quietly opening. _He’s coming out of the bathroom._ There was a soft *thunk*. _The bathroom light switch._ She listened to his feet quietly padding across her hardwood floor, making the faintest sticking sound. _He must be barefoot._ The footsteps stopped, and she strained her ears to hear over the sound of her heart beating wildly.

She heard the rustling of cloth as it landed in the chair next to the window. _He just took off his shirt._ The next sound was an unmistakable zipper, and another article of clothing was quickly added to the chair. _And his pants_. Felicity instinctively swallowed as she felt the covers being pulled down right before there was a dip in the mattress. The next thing she heard was her name being whispered, cutting through the darkness. “Felicity.” At first, she didn’t know whether or not to respond, but then she heard him let out a small sigh and whisper again. “Are you still awake?” Somehow, she knew that he wasn’t really asking; he knew she wasn’t asleep. Without turning toward him, she responded quietly. “Mmm?” There was a pause, as if he was trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. She held her breath in anticipation.

Just when she thought he had decided against it, she heard him speak in that same quiet voice. “If there is something that is bothering you…or if you ever need to talk to someone…about anything…I hope you know that you can always come to me.” Suddenly, there was a giant lump in her throat and she was blinking back tears. She didn’t trust her voice to conceal the fact that she was about to cry, but decided to take a chance anyway. “Thank you, Oliver.” He placed a warm hand on her bare arm and kissed her shoulder before whispering goodnight; the softness of his lips mixed with the scratchiness of his stubble sent chills down the entire right side of her body. As soon as he rolled over onto his back, she missed his closeness and felt a painful longing in the pit of her stomach. Eventually, she fell asleep; the same could not be said for Oliver. He lay perfectly still on his back, staring up at the ceiling while he silently determined to find out why Felicity was acting so strange around him lately. After several hours, he finally closed his eyes with only one thought on his mind. _She’s hiding something._


End file.
